Essential Infection Control and Prevention
Contents
Infection control and prevention is the corner stone safe working in dentistry. This lecture looks at the how the requirement to prevent the spread of pathogens outlined in current legislation impacts on how we work in dentistry. The topics covered in the lecture include instrument cleaning, hand hygiene, sharps safety, health checks, use of masks and antimicrobial stewardship.
Learning outcomes:
At the end of the lecture participants should have an understanding of
- The importance instrument cleaning in the decontamination cycle for removing and destroying prions
- The use of hand hygiene in reducing the transmission of microbes from hands
- Current guidelines on sharps management
- How the transmission of respiratory pathogens is controlled with the use of occupational vaccines and respirator masks
- An understanding of the use of audits in antimicrobial stewardship
This talk satisfies the GDC’s learning outcomes:
- C – Maintenance and development of knowledge and skill within your field of practice
- D – Maintenance of skills, behaviours and attitudes which maintain patient confidence in you and the dental profession and put patients’ interests first
Speaker
Dr Caroline Pankhurst BSc PhD BDS MSC MRCPath (Specialist in Oral Microbiology)
Dr Caroline Pankhurst is a dentist and a Specialist in Oral Microbiology and has published extensively in the fields of oral microbiology, dental unit waterlines and oral medicine including two books on infection control entitled “Control of Infection Guidelines for General Dental Practice” now in its fourth edition and co-authored “Basic Guide to Prevention and Infection Control in Dentistry”. She is actively involved in postgraduate dental education and training. Caroline has been a member of the Editorial Boards of “Primary Dental Care” and BMC Oral Health; is a member of the SAC in Medical Microbiology (Royal College of Pathologists), the BDA Central Committee for Dental Academic Staff and a Director of the charity the Fungal Infection Trust. She was President of BDA Metropolitan Branch in 2006.
