The Compliance Divas Podcast
Our podcast covers current topics such as infection prevention and control, OSHA and HIPAA compliance for dentistry. We discuss the latest regulatory information, answer frequently asked questions and give suggestions for dental practices to make compliance easy and sustainable. The Compliance Divas are a trusted source for consistent, accurate information based upon current guidelines, standards, science, and recommendations.
The Compliance Divas Podcast
#97 CDC Listening Rooms
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Recently, the CDC held two virtual listening room sessions to solicit feedback and insights about dental specific resources on the CDC website. Participants in the listening rooms included consultants, dentists, team members, educators and manufacturers and distributors. This podcast shines a light on the free resources offered by the CDC and more.
- CDC Oral Health Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/faqs/index.html
- Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5217a1.htm
Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannon. I'm Mary Gavoni.
SPEAKER_02I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Long, and together we are the Compliance Divas.
SPEAKER_03Welcome to the Compliance Divas Podcast. This is Linda Harvey, and I will be your moderator for this episode. Throughout our podcast, the Divas have discussed various CDC topics and updates, particularly related to COVID-19. But today we'd like to share with you a recent CDC happening that the Divas and a number of other fellow dental professionals participated in. As the Compliance Divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. We invite you to subscribe to our podcast through your favorite podcast channel or on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. And any resources that we mentioned will be in today's show notes. And you're welcome to submit any questions that you have to support at thecompliancedivas.com. So specifically a few weeks ago, the CDC hosted what was called listening rooms, and they had two listening rooms, and there were many different consultants, educators, industry partners, manufacturers that participated in these listening rooms. And the goal of the listening rooms was to solicit input and ideas for the CDC as looking at how they should go about approaching and the updates to our infection prevention and control guidelines, which we may remember they're from 2003, 20 years later, and an entire pandemic later. And then another one of the listening rooms focused on feedback and ideas related to the CDC dental check app, the FAQ page, and the foundation's training course the CDC has for dental professionals. So each of the Divas participate in some of these listening sessions, and it would be a great idea for us to share with you what we're learning so you can be on the cutting edge of the trends and what's new and coming up with the CDC. Leslie, I'd like to ask you to start us off. And would you mind sharing which session you attended and maybe a couple of pearls that you gleaned from that session?
SPEAKER_00Linda, I attended session two, where the focus was on the existing CDC resources. And one thing that I found especially helpful is the frequently asked questions page. I know that many times I have been asked questions. I want to give a clear and concise answer. I know the answer off the top of my head, but I love when I can give a resource to my clients or audiences so that they can go back and review that resource and know that it's coming from a trusted resource. And I consider CDC to be a trusted resource when it comes to dental infection prevention and control. And the other thing that I thought was especially helpful is there's this one place, uh one-stop shopping page on the CDC website that is uh called Infection Prevention and Control in Dental Settings, where there are a variety of topics that you can click on to get to each of the resources from the frequently asked questions that I mentioned to the checklist, the summary checklist, and some of the training programs. And uh something that surprised me was that many people in dentistry, including dental assisting program instructors and other types of dental training institutions, were not the instructors were not aware of this resource. And apparently it's dentistry's best kept secret. Linda?
SPEAKER_03Thank you, Leslie. I I um also participated in that same listening room, and um I loved how you referenced the CDC as a trusted resource, and I think that's something that's important at all the trainings that we provide, not only for our clients, but to the audiences that we speak to, because they want to know where we're getting our information. And I think it just helps to enlighten all dental professionals so that we can all elevate our knowledge and experience in these areas. And the CDC has got some great plans in the works. Mary, what session did you attend and what pearls did you glean from this from participating with the CDC?
SPEAKER_01Linda, I attended the first session where we were broken up into groups and given, my group was given the task of discussing the overall 2003 um guidelines for dental settings and what we liked and what we didn't like in those particular guidelines. The overall feeling from the group that I participated in was that we did like the guidelines because they were, for the most part, very specific. They were a great reference that we could use for not only training but documentation and um references. As Leslie talked about, it's always great to have the reference because a lot of people will say, well, where does it say that we have to do something? But there were some negative comments, and in one in particular, and one that I've um kind of grappled with for a while, is being more specific about dental unit waterline testing. Um, because the guidelines say that water lines should be tested periodically. And so that's open to all kinds of different interpretations. And it was mentioned um during the listening session that that's one of the things that consultants and educators are really interested in is having a better protocol that has more specifics that you know it may be referring to manufacturers, instructions for use, and so forth, but we want something more specific about water lines. Um, there was a lot said about the 2016 um guidance from um the CDC and the checklist, um, the infection prevention and control checklist, and a lot of comments about wanting to see that perhaps expanded, or maybe references within the guidance to that document and so forth. And we got some good assurances from the Division of Oral Health within the CDC that they really, really want to know what we think, how we think they could make these guidelines more useful for us. So I thought it was a very positive experience.
SPEAKER_03Mary, I can echo that. I thought it was a very positive experience as well. And I think it's gonna be great to see the CDC advancing these resources, updating them, and making them a little more user-friendly as they go along. I think it's really important that every dental practice know about these resources. Olivia, would you mind sharing which session you attended and what was your takeaway?
SPEAKER_02I attended both, and I had the opportunity to be the moderator of one of the sessions, the first one, and I actually took notes that I thought I would share with our listeners. Um, I think Mary already covered what we like about the guidelines, but some of the improvements that had uh a common, how would you say everyone shared likewise that they would like to see improve is what Mary had mentioned, more clarification and direction on dental unit water lines, particularly with surgical procedures and using sterile water with the procedures such as uh pulbotomy. Also, the need to sandwich in COVID-19 and other airborne transmission risk into the revised guidelines, more discussion on HEPA filtration, aerosol mitigation. We also see the need to update the vaccine section to include COVID-19. There was also discussion about clarity on high volume evacuation, since suction is not satisfactory in large dental settings. More information on multi-use dispensers and the infection control issues with those items. More information on single-use burrs and endodonic files, emphasizing single use. There was also mention about mouth rinses and laser. But I liked how someone pointed out the need for clarity on contaminated gowns and more instruction on how to deal with the gowns from operatory to operatory. And also more information on newer technologies that have been incorporated into dentistry, such as the Nomad device and teledentistry. We saw the need to discuss possibly reorganizing the topics, uh how they lay out, how they look on the screen for an online display, and having links to go to the sections that we're interested in. There's still the language of MSDS, so we want to see that updated to SDS. More focus on heat sterilization of hand pieces. And someone also suggested, you know, we need more pictures, more infographs, maybe even short, very short videos because today's learner, today's listener, we have very short attention spans. So if we could have just a couple of minute videos here and there to provide that added instruction. And another point that was well taken was consider the literacy level of the reader. You know, we have everyone from a dentist reading these guidelines to an entry-level dental assistant with the high school graduate background. So, how do we make the language so easy to follow and engaging? And then also, how do we distribute the information to reach individuals best in dentistry? So I thought it was very effective, Linda. And a matter of fact, I felt honored that CDC wanted to hear what people in the dental profession had to say. And as it was mentioned already, you know, we were in a room online with people from the dental office, such as dental hygienists and assistants and dentists, as well as educators and consultants. And I thought it was just a great mix of people to provide their insight and what they think would be best to improve the guidance.
SPEAKER_03Thank you, Olivia. I love how thorough your notes were because it really brings to light all the different facets that many dental practices are struggling with. Everything from the multi-use dental dispensers and single-use bursts, things that they're not able to focus on, maybe that as well as they should or need to. And just even the gowns, like you. I'm sure we both get questions. We all get questions from our clients. You know, where how do I manage this gown throughout the day? How do I go check hygiene patients? How do I, where do I, where do I wear the gown? Where do I not wear the gown when I leave the treatment room? So there's so many questions that would be great to see those types of things updated in the CDC guidelines and clarified. And I love how you talked about making it more user-friendly when you read it online. So the sections are more delineated, and maybe there's hyperlinks to jump to more and read other resources. So I think it's exciting that the CDC is looking at these changes. And there's so many things that they already provide for us and they know our needs here in dentistry, but they're eager to kind of catch up with the times as you will, especially when you mentioned uh updating language such as not using MSDS anymore, but of course the current language is safety data sheets. One thing that I'd like to mention is the fact that oftentimes a practice will say, or whether it's doctors or the team member will say, well, these are nice to know, referring to the CDC guidelines, but what do I have to do? And so Divas, we're all aware of the fact that there are a number of states that have written this and encompassed the CDC guidelines into their dental practice act, so that there is no nice to know about these. They are all you things you must do. And on top of that, they set the standard of care in dentistry. And so not following the CDC guidelines sets up a practice for the potential for practicing below the standard of care, which is not a good place to be if there's any patient or allegations about the quality of care of a particular sterilization or infection and patrol and so forth. So, Divas, what else would you like to share as we wrap up this podcast? Is there anything that you're still thinking we should share with our listeners? Any thoughts you'd like to bring together? Olivia.
SPEAKER_02Just one point that we discussed was leadership. We just so much encourage the dentists and those that are in managerial positions to review the guidance and model it. And then there will be more likelihood that the entire team will buy into and comply with those recommendations. Fantastic. I think that's great tips.
SPEAKER_03Mary?
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Linda. Um, one of the things that um I struggle with sometimes with when I'm interacting with my clients and I talk about you know, following CDC guidelines and so forth, there is a little sort of undercurrent of maybe mistrust of the CDC that's been happening just because of confusion with um COVID and guidelines and guidance changing a lot. But I think we have to keep in perspective that this is our national clearinghouse for all things infection prevention and control. And even though things might have seen a little disorganized during COVID, it's because we were just reacting or the CDC was just reacting to the information that kept coming and coming and coming so quickly because we were dealing with an unknown virus at the at the beginning of the pandemic. So I just want to reinforce with our listeners that the CDC is our go-to infection control resource.
SPEAKER_03Well said, Mary. I couldn't agree more. Uh Leslie, what would you like to add?
SPEAKER_00You know, I think sometimes people are a little bit hesitant to step into the role of the infection control coordinator because they're not sure if they're providing the right information or if they're uh able to lead the team in the right direction. And I want to encourage people to consider becoming certified in dental infection prevention and control. And that is a certification as a collaboration between uh Damby, the Dental Assisting National Board, and OSEP, the Organization for Safety of Sepsis and Prevention. I went through that. I know my fellow divas have gone through that uh process, and it is extremely um educational and resourceful in helping someone be very firm in their foundation of how dental infection prevention and control uh should look in a dental practice and where the resources are. And it's not only CDC guidance, there's other studies that are taken into consideration as well as OSHA requirements that we need to look at. And so if someone is maybe thinking that they'd like to take the role of the infection control coordinator or the OSHA coordinator, but they're not sure, I would encourage them to take this path and get this certification. You'll be so much better off for it. And uh it will really help you solidify all of the components of what you need to know for dental practice infection control, plus give you the checklists and the various different things that that will help you to move forward and lead your team, whether you're the newest dental assistant with the practice or whether you're the practice owner. Is this a great step for anyone to take?
SPEAKER_03Oh, Leslie, so well said, so well said. I think it just enhances everyone's career, it enhances uh the quality of care that we provide our patients and it just enhances the practice as a whole. So totally agree with that. I think that's a wonderful idea. And where they can start is by downloading the resources from today's show notes. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Compliance Divas. We bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. We invite you to subscribe to our podcast or your favorite podcast channel or on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. All the resources that we mentioned today can be found in our show notes and on our website. And we invite you to submit any questions about today's podcast or any other area of compliance to support at thecompliancedevas.com. And we look forward to seeing you next week.