Tufts University School Of Dental Medicine Student Dental Clinic

Q: a. What are the infection rates, what are the statistics, where are the reports available for the Student Dental Clinic at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine http://www.tufts.edu/dental/patient/index.html ? b. What are the infection rates, what are the statistics, where are the reports available for your favorite Dental Schools clinics?...

A:Except for the exceptional cases like Kimberly Bergalis/David Acer, the occasional transmission of Hep B, and the pretty much theoretical transmission of legionella in contaminated water lines, what kind of infections are we talking about here? The problem is that on an out-patient basis, statistics on cross-infection are very hard to gather--where they are gathered at all. How do you suppose this could be done in a dental setting? I spent a few days visiting my mother who is hospitalized now and the floor corridor has dispensers of antibacterial waterless lotion/soap outside of each room. In the patient bathrooms and public bathrooms, there is liquid soap intended to be used with running water. A patient in that ward

wouldn't know if a nurse of doctor washed their hands with the lotion. There aren't any sinks in the patient's bed area of the rooms. We've had patients who work for the city department of health as restaurant inspectors. Some of them say that if I saw what they did I'd never eat in a restaurant again. Nosocomial infections have always been a big problem, and I don't doubt that they are a problem in the dental setting as well. I just don't know what could be done to actively police proper infection control policies. Seems to me that even the most easily documented (such as submission of autoclave spore tests) would be very difficult to accomplish.