Kennedy Hughes

Period 1

4 areas to improve dental lab infection control in

2019
Published: January 9, 2019
Summary: infection control isn’t just a big deal in the hospitals its also needed in a setting such as the
dentist office. In a dental lab PPE is required by OSHA however, not everyone abides by these rules
therefore, we must enforce them. In a dental lab you don’t necessarily have direct contact with patients,
but bacteria can still spread such as E. Coli. As far as Infection control a dental lab must go through a
process of sterilizing their tools. This helps keep the patient infection free. The Author Robert Elsenpeter
states that people who work in a medical or dental setting should have more training on their
surroundings. This helps prevent injury because anything could happen at any given time and teaching
others to stay alert could help safety awareness. A study showed that an outbreak of Salmonella was
going around the country and the number one answer was a result of people not wearing PPE. This article
explains why PPE is so important today.

Project Topic Connection: My project topic is over PPE & Infection Control. This article relates to my
topic because it discusses why we wear PPE and the benefits it has towards our health. The article states
that sterilizing tools keeps a patient infection free my project explains the risk of not wearing PPE and
what could occur if we don’t obtain infection control. The article also includes training that should be
enforced in order to help safety awareness. This relates to my topic because safety is the main priority.
Without PPE or any infection control techniques it would be easily for viruses and disease to spread. One
connection made in the article is a study found over a Salmonella outbreak. People infected by this
disease were interviewed and a frequent repose to why they obtained the disease was “they weren’t
wearing protective covering”. This incident connects to my project because this is a result of not wearing
PPE.

Personal Response: I thought the article was very well written. It explained various reasons why PPE is so
important and the risk that could occur. The article made me feel more aware of my surroundings because
even when you’re not in a health setting it’s very easy to contract bacteria. The author makes a clear
statement on how washing your hands is very important to stay free from infection. The article did evoke
emotion when it discussed the Salmonella outbreak. It was very sad to know that people could have
prevented getting sick if only they were wearing PPE. It’s not hard to wear gloves or a mask, people don’t
realize this is to protect us from harm. My one question after reading the article would be why didn’t we
start informing people about this earlier? In my opinion the article should have been published a while
before any incident could even happen.

Elsenpeter , Robert. “4 Areas to Improve Dental Lab Infection Control in 2019.” 4 Areas to Improve Dental
Lab Infection Control in 2019, Modern Dental Network, 9 Jan. 2019,
www.dentalproductsreport.com/lab/article/four-areas-improve-dental-lab-infection-control-2019?page=0,2
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