Objectives

Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings banner

By highlighting existing CDC recommendations, this summary guide

  1. Provides basic infection prevention principles and recommendations for dental health care settings.
  2. Reaffirms Standard Precautions as the foundation for preventing transmission of infectious agents during patient care in all dental health care settings.
  3. Provides links to full guidelines and source documents that readers can reference for more detailed background and recommendations.

For additional references, background information, rationale, and evidence, readers should consult the references and resources listed in Appendix C. Detailed recommendations for dental health care settings can be found in the compendium document, Recommendations from the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings — 2003 [PDF – 773 KB].

References

  1. Redd JT, Baumbach J, Kohn W, et al. Patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis B virus associated with oral surgery. J Infect Dis. 2007;195(9):1311 – 1314.
  2. Radcliffe RA, Bixler D, Moorman A, et al. Hepatitis B virus transmissions associated with a portable dental clinic, West Virginia, 2009. J Am Dent Assoc. 2013;144(10):1110 – 1118.
  3. Klevens RM, Moorman AC. Hepatitis C virus: an overview for dental health care providers. J Am Dent Assoc. 2013;144(12):1340 – 1347.
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for infection control in dental health-care settings — 2003. MMWR Recomm Rep 2003;52(RR-17):1 – 61. Available at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5217.pdf [PDF – 1.21 MB]