Rogue Tulsa Dentist

As you are probably aware, there is widespread news coverage involving the investigation of an Oklahoma oral surgeon for allegedly poor infection control practices and delegation of dental procedures. The ADA is monitoring this developing story closely.
As a result of this story, the ADA fielded numerous media inquiries about infection control and health practices in US dental offices.  It is a tragedy that one bad doctor could cause so much harm.
In the middle of all this terrible news we wanted to reiterate a few points to help your confidence in the infection control standards at Park City Dentistry:

• In our dental practice, we follow stringent infection control procedures.

• Also, as your doctor, I would only delegate procedures to my staff that they are licensed or qualified to perform per state regulations. I care about my patients and your health and safety are my foremost priorities.

• Studies show that following proper infection control procedures greatly reduces risk to patients to the point of an extremely remote possibility.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed special recommendations for use in dental offices.

• Let me describe just a few of the things that we do in our practice in terms of infection control:

  • All dental staff involved in patient care scrub their hands before each and every patient and use appropriate protective garb such as gloves, masks, gowns and eyewear
  
  • A new set of gloves and masks are used for each patient.

• Before you enter the examining room, all surfaces, such as the dental chair, instrument tray, dental light, drawer handles and countertops, have been cleaned and decontaminated.
• Non-disposable dental instruments are cleaned and sterilized between patients. In my office we sterilize instruments using both a cold, ultrasonic sterilizer and an autoclaver that uses heat and pressure to further sterilize our instruments.
• Disposable items like needles or gauze are placed in special bags or containers for special, monitored disposal.
• Your well-being is important to me and my staff, which is why we follow stringent infection control procedures and comply with all state regulations for the protection of patients.
• You can visit the American Dental Association’s website at www.mouthhealthy.org and use the search term “infection control” to see a video on this topic. The website has a lot of information to help you take care of your oral health, too.

Also, as an office we need to comply with standards set by the Utah Dental Association and OSHA and we are subject to inspections to ensure that we are up to standard.  If you have any questions, or if you just want to see our procedures and process, feel free to come by and we will give you a tour.  We love the confidence and trust we have earned with our patients and we take great pride in how we run our practice.

Photo courtesy of University of Wollongong