G O V E R N M E N T R E L AT I O N S
continued
Center for Disease Control Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines
and Recommendations
When it comes to infection control, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania relies on the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines as the standard for infection control in the dental
office. Current regulations consider it to be unprofessional conduct for dentists to fail to follow current
CDC guidelines or to ensure that dental auxiliary and other supervisees follow the guidelines.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a supplement to its “Guidelines for Infectious
Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003.” The supplemental document, “Summary of Infection Prevention Practices for
Dental Settings: Basic Expectation for Safe Care,” combines the 2003 infection control guidelines with additional
recommendations that have been published since then.
The supplement is not intended to serve as a replacement for the 2003 guidelines, but provides dental professionals with
helpful tools to insure implementation of appropriate infection control procedures in their offices, including appropriate training
and education of dental auxiliary. CDC guidelines include standard precautions that should be exercised in the dental office
including hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment, sterilization and disinfection of patient-care items and devices
and environmental infection prevention and control.
A copy of “Summary of Infection Prevention Practices for Dental Settings: Basic Expectation for Safe Care,” is available on CDC’s
website at http://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/guidelines/index.htm.
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