Maintaining a clean and safe environment in a dental office is of utmost importance. One area that often is overlooked, yet plays a crucial role in ensuring patient safety is dental unit waterlines.

Dental unit waterlines, or DUWLs, can harbor harmful bacteria that pose a risk to dental staff and patients. This article will explore the importance of dental unit waterline maintenance and discuss the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Dental Association (ADA) recommendations for best practices for ensuring optimal patient safety.

Whether you are a dental professional or a patient seeking dental care, understanding the significance of proper waterline maintenance is essential for a healthy and safe dental experience. So, let’s dive in and explore the world of dental unit waterlines and the best practices to keep them clean and safe.

Unraveling the Protective Layers for First Responders

In the unyielding battle against the fentanyl epidemic, the protection of our first responders hinges on the reliability of their gear. Within this arsenal, chemotherapy tested nitrile gloves have emerged as a formidable defense against fentanyl exposure. This article dives into the intricate processes and standards that define the fentanyl protection capabilities of these gloves.

Understanding the Fentanyl Challenge

Fentanyl, notorious for its potency, being 50-100 times more potent than morphine, and 30-50 times more potent than heroin, demands specialized protective measures. Chemotherapy tested nitrile gloves go beyond conventional options, offering a robust defense against this formidable adversary. But how are these gloves rigorously tested to ensure

maxill is proud to introduce the ‘new guy’ in the IPAC line up of products… The Process Challenge Device (PCD). A PCD is a key element in the quality assurance testing of dental office sterilizers. It is used to monitor the performance of the sterilization process. The PCD simulates an equal or greater challenge than the most difficult instrument/item routinely processed in a sterilization cycle. Each day and each cycle used requires the use of a PCD. Adding a more rigorous approach to testing follows best practice within the risk management of the theory of routine practice principles of infection prevention and control.

PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment. It refers to any equipment or clothing specifically designed to be worn or used by individuals to protect themselves from potential hazards, risks, or injuries in the workplace or other environments.

In the dental industry, ensuring the safety of dental professionals and patients is of paramount importance. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) plays a vital role in safeguarding against potential hazards, including infectious diseases, chemical exposure, and physical injuries. Donning and doffing protocols are crucial procedures that dental professionals must adhere to in order to properly wear and remove PPE. This article will explore the various types of PPE used in the dental industry and the correct practices for donning and doffing.

Does every office need a DUWL program?

This can be answered by the equipment the office has.  There are two types of water delivery systems in a dental office:  direct municipal and closed bottle systems. 

The direct municipal has no bottle and is only required to purge the DUWL on opening, closing, and between clients. 

However, a closed water system as per the MIFU of the manufacturer of the dental chair or bracket table with the attached bottle, states a program is required to include cleaning, disinfecting, and testing. 

At this point, a retrofit from municipal to closed is not mandated.  It is important to note that offices do not get confused with the word municipal … if the office uses tap water in their closed bottle system that is not considered m

July 1976 at the American Legion Convention at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Legionnaires was named and identified as the cause of an outbreak of severe pneumonia with 200 cases and 29 deaths (3) (5).  The outbreak was linked to the inhalation of aerosolized contaminated water (3)(5).  A milder infection caused by the same type of Legionella bacteria is called Pontiac fever. Rewinding in time, in 1968 in Pontiac Michigan, Pontiac Fever was named and identified as an outbreak of influenza-like illness, identified by people who worked at & visited the city’s health department and had inhaled aerosols from contaminated water (3). Legionnaires' disease is an acute bacterial disease, causing death in 5% to 30% of cases (4). The Government of Canada’s Legionella site, states the following:

“Cases of Legionnaire’s disease may be difficult to detect because very few of the people exposed to the bacteria get infecte

In the fast-paced and demanding environment of dental clinics, efficient and reliable sterilization of instruments is paramount to ensure patient safety and infection control. One crucial item that has revolutionized dental instrument reprocessing is the self-sealing sterilization pouch.

Components and Features:

A self-sealing sterilization pouch is typically made of a medical-grade, durable, and puncture-resistant material, often a combination of transparent polypropylene and medical-grade paper. These pouches come in various sizes to accommodate different instruments, from small dental items such as burs, handpieces, explorers to larger things such as forceps, rubber dam frames, instrument cassettes

This explanatory article on barriers is part of a series of articles that were created to help new office managers and patients understand the uses and best practices of barrier products for infection control.