What’s In Your Water? Keeping Your Dental Unit Waterlines Safe for Your Patient

Keeping Your Dental Unit Waterlines Safe for Your Patient is organized by Metro Denver Dental Society (MDDS) and will be held on Sep 12, 2024.

Description:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a health advisory related to outbreaks of nontuberculous mycobacteria infections and the high importance of maintaining and monitoring dental unit waterlines. Dental teams and patients have become increasingly aware of the risks from receiving treatment involving contaminated water sources. While many dental offices take steps to treat or maintain dental unit waterlines, we need to be proactive about monitoring the bacterial loads in our waterlines to ensure that we are not putting our patients at risk.

Objectives:

• Review the microbiology of dental unit waterlines and the infectious risks that can be present
• Discuss dental unit waterline maintenance options and strategies to help maintain low bacterial loads in our dental units
• Establish protocols for testing and monitoring dental unit waterline quality and what to do if dental unit waterline tests show increased levels of bacteria.

Please Note:
This course is not intended to meet the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens annual training requirement as outlined in the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.  This course is intended to be a “closer look” at a specific infection control-related topic to supplement the annual OSHA training required for all employees in your practice.