Promoting infection control practices in your dental office
Michelle Strange, MSDH, RDH, says that proper infection control and the right equipment may seem like a big investment initially, but you will soon start reaping the benefits—decreased costs for your practice and a new way to market to your community.
It’s all too common that we hear about dental infection control breaches in the media. This, coupled with hospitals highlighting good prevention measures for proper hand hygiene and distributing information about health-care-acquired infections, creates a breeding ground for patient paranoia. No wonder people are scared to go to the dentist!
Thinking a bit outside the box, however, we can turn this threat into an opportunity. Proper infection control and the right equipment may seem like a big investment at first, but once you start seeing the benefits of decreased costs (e.g., reduced lost hours due to staff illness and more) and envision this as a new way to market to your community, I think you’ll agree that it’s well worth your while. And if you don’t now, I expect you will after reading this article! Let’s take a look.