OSHA safety requirements and the general duty clause.

Dental offices and clinics are subject to the same general safety requirements as other workplaces. Current guidelines, inspections, education, and training focus on infectious disease as the major workplace hazard for dental health care personnel (DHCP). However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited an increasing variety and number of general safety hazards during inspections of dental offices.

Dental water quality--the scientific evidence for current CDC guidelines.

Newly revised and updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend adoption of procedures to improve the microbiological quality of water used in dental treatment. These recommendations represent the consensus of experts from a wide range of scientific and clinical disciplines and are based on the best currently available evidence. Dentists and the manufacturers of dental equipment must consider the infection control, occupational health and risk-management implications of biofilm colonization in dental equipment, and take appropriate measures to provide water of appropriate microbiological quality clinical procedures.

Dental water quality--the scientific evidence for current CDC guidelines.

Newly revised and updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend adoption of procedures to improve the microbiological quality of water used in dental treatment. These recommendations represent the consensus of experts from a wide range of scientific and clinical disciplines and are based on the best currently available evidence. Dentists and the manufacturers of dental equipment must consider the infection control, occupational health and risk-management implications of biofilm colonization in dental equipment, and take appropriate measures to provide water of appropriate microbiological quality clinical procedures.

Dentistry and bioterrorism.

Dentistry's role in responding to bioterrorism and other catastrophic events is evolving and may involve a wide range of activities. Organized dentistry. local dental societies.

Waterborne pathogens and dental waterlines.

Humans, like every other living thing on Earth, have evolved in a world dominated by many billions of microscopic life forms. Most of the time, we live in a state of harmony (or even mutualism) with our invisible coinhabitants. When this balance becomes disturbed however, the consequences can be devastating.

Dental waterlines and biofilm--searching for solutions.

This article reviews the nature of aquatic biofilms in dental waterlines and their effect on the quality of water used in dental treatment. Also addressed is the current state of knowledge about the health consequences of microbial contamination of dental treatment water and the evidence basis for various treatment options. The rationale for treatment of dental water systems and criteria for selection of products are discussed.

A review of the science regarding dental unit waterlines.

Background: The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, or NIDCR; the American Dental Association, or ADA; and the Organization for Safety & Asepsis Procedures, or OSAP, sponsored a workshop on the topic of dental unit waterlines, or DUWLs, on Sept. 29, 2000, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. These organizations invited a group of experts from the ADA, NIDCR, OSAP, the U.