In an exclusive video interview with DrBicuspid.com Editor-in-Chief Tony Edwards, infection-control expert Eve Cuny, MS, spoke of the current and long-term issues facing dental practices when it comes to infection control.
The entire interview can be viewed below, in an exclusive DrBicuspid.com Google+ Hangout.
Cuny noted that many dental offices want to make infection control more of a priority, but they struggle to find reliable information and are concerned about the time and cost involved.
Cuny recommended appointing a safety coordinator in the office, an assigned duty to someone who is already working there. And that person could be a hygienist or an assistant. These responsibilities take more than a few minutes each day, but not an overwhelming amount of time, she noted.
"More and more people understand the need to have a trained, qualified person in every practice who is going to help them with their infection control," she said.
While many practices are concerned about the costs involved, she pointed out that having someone in the office tasked with infection control may be able to spot duplications of effort that cost both time and money. This person may also, through membership in the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) and regular research on the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control website, find other ways to streamline and improve the office's performance.
If a practice isn't up to current infection-control standards, some costs will be involved, she acknowledged.
She talked about the increased awareness of infection control issues among dental practices and how her presentations worldwide are received differently now as compared with how they were received in the past. She praised dental schools' increased awareness and teaching of infection control.
One area she would like to see improvement in is more information about infection control from manufacturers to offices.
Eve Cuny, MS, is the past chairperson of the Organization of Safety, Asepsis, and Prevention (OSAP) and the director of environmental health and safety and an associate professor in the department of dental practice at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco.
