Have you ever "cleaned" the computer keyboard and mouse in your treatment room? Likely it's contaminated, although barriers help, but CDC guidelines state that even barrier protected equipment like computers hardware should be cleaned and disinfected between patients. 

• Divas Discount Code: CompDivas10
• 2016 CDC Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings-Basic expectations for Safe Dental Care-Page 16-17. https://www.cdc.gov/dental-infection-control/hcp/summary/index.html 
• Man and Machine. https://www.man-machine.com/ 

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Social media, such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and others have become very popular marketing channels for dental practices.  Join the Divas for a lively discussion on what we should and shouldn't show on these posts if we want to promote the concept safe oral healthcare to our patients.

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 Who better to update dental teams on what is currently happening with respect to infection and control than, our friend and internationally know expert, Dr. John Molinari.  Join the Divas as they ask Dr. Molinari about COVID surges, Fifth Disease, Avian flu and more as we kick off Dental Infection Control Awareness Month (DICAM).

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What happens when an ethical dilemma occurs in your practice? In this episode, the Divas highlight ethical and professional responsibility and how to avoid common ethical issues and how to mitigate them if they occur.

Resources:

• ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Conduct  https://bit.ly/3Z9h8IG
• NY Post - Dental officers laugh as they read cancer patient's diary  https://bit.ly/476P3Ul

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On August 14th, the WHO declared a global health emergency due to the rising cases of Mpox. While this does not mean we heading into another pandemic, it's important to stay up to date. In this episode, the Divas discuss what constitutes a global health emergency, what exactly is Mpox, and how could it impact your practice. 

• CDC Mpox Response: https://bit.ly/3yNfTEC 
• CDC About Mpox: https://bit.ly/4e1gocV
• CDC Clinicians and Infection Control: https://bit.ly/3XmXsjA
• CDC Ocular Infection: https://bit.ly/3yLsJDn

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Did you know that the noises encountered in a dental practice can make dental team members susceptible to the development of permanent hearing loss?  Learn which devices and equipment produce the highest levels of sound, and what does OSHA say about exposure to high levels of sound in the workplace.  The Divas also discuss methods of protecting against hearing loss.

Resources

• CDC/NIOSH - About Occupational Hearing Loss  https://bit.ly/3SMCrMe
• CDC/NIOSH - Noise and Hearing Loss  https://bit.ly/3SK1Ia1
• SoundEar A/S - About Decibels  https://bit.ly/46I7u1y
• CDC/NIOSH - About Noise https://bit.ly/3SK1Ia1
• American Dental Association - Safety Tips to Prevent Hearing Loss  https://bit.ly/4diHX1j
• Today's RDH - Hearing Loss in Dentistry: A Silent Topic  https://bit.ly/4cpoqeH
• Dental Economics - The Deafening Silence in Dentistry  https://bit.ly/4dj1jUh

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Testing the dental unit water lines is a critical task in infection prevention and control.   But how do you test?  How often do you test? And, how do you find the time to test the waterlines?   The Divas explore the new Fast Check 15 dental unit waterline test and explain the step-by-step protocol to make this task simple to perform.  The Divas are joined by Brian Mergentime, of Solmetex, dentistry's complete provider of water solutions.

Resources:

• Journal of the American Dental Association - Dental Unit Waterline Infection Control Practice and Knowledge Gaps  https://bit.ly/3WM8ONu
• American Dental Association Resources - Dental Unit Waterlines  https://bit.ly/3WJ9mnn  
• CDC - Dental Unit Water Quality https://bit.ly/4c8wUqj
• Solmetex - Sterisil Product Series  https://bit.ly/3yb9mTW
• Solmetex Customer Resources  https://bit.ly/4chXJZm

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You likely have Patients who are deaf or hard of hearing in your practice. Mis-understanding  recommended dental care can lead to poor outcomes. The Divas discuss patient’s rights, the dentist’s obligations, and effective communicate skills.  The podcast will address hearing issues that can develop for dental team members exposed to noises in the dental office.

Resources:

• Univ. of Washington Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology - How Are the Terms Deaf, Deafened, Hard of Hearing and Hearing Impaired Typically Used? https://bit.ly/3Wcdb2O 
• Univ. of Washington School of Dentistry - Oral Health Fact Sheet for Dental Professionals - Children with Hearing-Impairment https://bit.ly/3LrEZv8 
• Univ. of Washington School of Dentistry - Oral Health Fact Sheet for Dental Professionals - Ad with Hearing-Impairment https://bit.ly/3xYxWHr
• MI Dental Association - Hearing-Impaired Patients:  Your Legal Obligations  https://bit.ly/3xS0B0R  
• American Dental Association:  Serving the Hearing-Impaired https://bit.ly/3LvlnGG 

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Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is intended to advance health care equity and reduce disparities in health care that may occur through discriminatory practices, or the inability of health care providers to communicate effectively with patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).  In this episode the Divas discuss what dental practices must do to come into compliance with the changes in this rule.

Resources:

• Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Strengthening Nondiscrimination Protections and Advancing Civil Rights in Health Care Through Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act:  Fact Sheet
  https://bit.ly/3VYMKhh
• ADA Section 1557:   All you need to Know Regarding Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act  https://bit.ly/45XFoPw
• ADA – Section 1557:  The Basics on What You Must do to Comply   https://bit.ly/3S1mmSI
• ADA Section 1557:  Individuals with Limited Language Efficiency (LEP)  https://bit.ly/4cqGypb
• HealthCare.gov – Affordable Care Act resources https://bit.ly/3VWdRJD
•  University of the Pacific School of Dentistry  https://bit.ly/45Yd0g5

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Sterilization monitoring, known as spore testing, is a key element in quality assurance for instrument sterilization.  Join the Divas for a lively discussion about protocols to follow if a spore test fails, comparison of in-office vs. mail testing, developing a mediation plan and much more.

Resources:

• CDC Best Practices for Sterilization Monitoring in Dental Settings https://bit.ly/3L6HzXh 
• CDC Breach response process document:  https://bit.ly/3znzLxT
• CDC Patient Notification Toolkit: https://bit.ly/3XLbU5i
•  HuFriedy Group Sterilization Solutions: https://bit.ly/3VQZ1nR
• Outbreaks and Infection Control Breaches in Health Care Settings:  Considerations for Patient Notification   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32284161/

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