In the last few weeks, a number of unfortunate stories have been in the news about dental offices whose infection-control measures may have put patients at risk. And while it's possible to point to individual circumstances in each instance, widely reported infection-control lapses raise questions in all patients.
Two of the stories come from Pennsylvania, where experienced dentists apparently did not adhere to dental standard-of-care practices and failed to follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) infection-control recommendations.
In one instance, investigators found no evidence that the practice had sent out samples of instruments that had been autoclaved for biological spore testing for almost a year. In this specific case, the practice had only one handpiece onsite and the practitioner could not answer basic questions about the autoclave, according to a complaint issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Sheri B. Doniger, DDS.Further, investigators found a lack of proper instrument scrubbing before disinfection and insufficient time allowed for cold sterilization before an instrument was reused. Medical waste was not disposed of properly, and apparently no active contract was in place for its removal. Used needles were poorly disposed of as well.
Sheri Doniger, DDS, a Support Clean Dentistry advisory board member and a DrBicuspid.com columnist, followed up her recent comments on the subject by noting that news like this affects every patient and every practice.
"Public news events like this affect all dentists," she told DrBicuspid.com in an email interview. "It causes questions. And makes patients uncomfortable."
Another recent instance was a practitioner in Montoursville, PA, who had his license temporarily suspended on June 26 after an investigation by Pennsylvania's departments of health and state. The investigation showed the dentist "did not follow appropriate procedures to properly clean, disinfect, or sterilize dental tools used at his ... office," according to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The third recent story came from Hawaii, where the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is focusing on patients who were treated on two days in late May, according to a local story. The dental instruments were clean in this instance, but VA monitors revealed that the instruments had not been sterilized.
Dr. Doniger commented that this news reminds all dentists of the need to be focused on proper infection-control techniques.
"I am saddened that not just one, but two Pennsylvania dentists have recently been in the news for breaking both the standard of care and their patients trust," she said. "We need to be focused now, more than ever, on proper infection-control techniques."
These reports also bring scrutiny from the general public.
"The public is watching us very closely. When one infraction comes to light, it raises warning flags for patients to be concerned with the dental office's cleanliness," she said. "When this second Pennsylvania dentist's practice was cited because he did not follow appropriate procedures to properly clean, disinfect, or sterilize dental instruments, patients may wonder if we are cutting corners with our procedures. This may drive some of them away. Patients have the right to have clean, safe dentistry. We need to be proactive in showing our patients what we do to protect them with our autoclave procedures and disposable napkin holders."
