Best Practices in Dental Infection Prevention and Control

At a glance

These best practices provide information on a range of topics relevant to clinical dentistry.

Dental health care personnel donning gloves.

Overview

More about the information presented can be found in the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings—2003, the Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care, and other CDC guidelines.

These guidelines are applicable wherever dental care is provided. This includes traditional settings such as private dental practices, dental clinics, dental schools and educational programs (including dental assisting, dental hygiene, and laboratory), as well as nontraditional settings that often use portable dental equipment, such as clinics held in schools for sealant and fluoride placement and in other sites for humanitarian dental missions.

Reminder‎

CDC does not have regulatory authority that extends to the enforcement of infection prevention and control in dental health care settings. Dental health care personnel should be aware that other local, territorial, tribal, state, and federal requirements may apply, including those promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. CDC recommends that you consult with your state dental board or other regulating agency for requirements specific to your jurisdiction.

Why is infection prevention and control important?

Following recommended infection prevention and control procedures can prevent transmission of infectious organisms among patients and dental health care personnel.

This video, from CDC's Foundations: Building the Safest Dental Visit training, shows how both patients and dental health care personnel can be exposed to a variety of infections during dental treatment.

Resources

Best Practices for Dental Handpieces
Details the risks of improperly reprocessing dental handpieces and how to reprocess them correctly.
Best Practices for Dental Unit Water Quality
Informs about monitoring, treating, maintaining dental waterlines and the risks if left untreated.
Best Practices for Environmental Infection Prevention and Control
Provides guidance on how to clean and disinfect environmental surfaces.
Best Practices for Handling Extracted Teeth
Details guidelines for handling extracted teeth and how to dispose of teeth containing amalgam.
Best Practices for Occupational Exposure to Blood
Details risks, prevention, and post-exposure protocol for occupational exposures to blood.
Best Practices for Oral Surgical Procedures
Details the risks related to oral surgical procedures and guidance to minimize these risks.
Best Practices for Personal Protective Equipment
Inform dental staff about the proper PPE to protect them from exposure with infectious agents.
Best Practices for Safe Injections
Details CDC’s setting-specific recommendations for safe injection practices.
Best Practices for Single-Use (Disposable) Devices
Details what single-use devices are and how to dispose of them.
Best Practices for Sterilization in Dental Settings
Details steps for reprocessing instruments to ensure safe reuse of contaminated patient-care items.
Best Practices for Sterilization Monitoring in Dental Settings
Details the types of sterilization monitoring and what to include in equipment maintenance records.

Additional resources

Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship
Key principles to guide efforts to improve antibiotic use, patient safety and outcomes.
Clinical Safety: Hand Hygiene for Healthcare Workers
Hand hygiene - Detailed information on hand hygiene in healthcare settings for HCP.
Infection Control Guidance: SARS-CoV-2
Preventing Transmission of Viral Respiratory Pathogens in Healthcare Settings
Infection control measures to prevent all viral respiratory infections in healthcare settings.
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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Division of Oral Health