Over the years, OSAP members have shared some very practical, time-saving, valuable practice tips.  Following are a selection of tips we hope you can use.  Please consider sharing YOUR tips.  We provide complete attribution and a contact link to your email.  Click HERE to share your ideas.

  "Seeing the way to safety”

An eyewash station is an important safety element in a dental office. In spite of the use of protective eyewear there is potential for contamination or injury to the eyes of dental workers during the course of delivering dental treatment. Some of the potential hazards include restorative materials that are being removed from teeth; spray from air/water syringes, water-cooled handpieces or ultrasonic scalers; tooth and bone fragments during surgical extractions; and chemical exposures. It may seem like an area that does not require training, however picture yourself with your eyes stinging and burning, your hands held over your eyes, while you try to run to the sink and activate the eyewash station. It may not be as easy as it sounds.

Kathy Eklund, RDH, MHP, Associate Professor at The Forsyth Institute in Boston, MA, shared two training tips that work. "I blindfold my students, or otherwise obstruct their vision and then have them find and activate the eyewash station under this 'impaired vision.' I would suggest that every person in the office practice this during a safety training session until they are able to flush their eyes within 10 seconds. In the event that a real injury was to occur, knowing how to get to and activate the eyewash quickly could make all the difference in the world. During this type of situation, it may also be difficult to see the telephone keypad to dial the emergency 9-1-1 number for outside help. Other situations that might make that difficult would be a room full of smoke or a power failure. Simply placing raised dots on the '9' and '1' keys on the telephones could speed emergency assistance when the telephone keypad is not visible."

"Keeping it together — instruction manuals and equipment, that is”

In the dental setting, we rely on precision equipment, worker know-how, and routine use of specific procedures to ensure safe, quality patient care. In operating and maintaining dental equipment,  Shannon Mills DDS, formerly with the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General and now with Northeast Delta Dental, has a suggestion to make sure that both human and mechanical factors are always on the same page. Literally.

"The manufacturers of every piece of dental equipment in your office have prepared detailed users' guides and operating instructions that, when consistently applied, ensure reliable equipment performance,” he says. "For each piece of dental equipment you have, take the page of standard operating instructions, summarize it in an easy-to-follow procedural checklist, and post it next to the device,” he says. Some users' guides even have "quick start” instructions that can be photocopied and posted. "Having instructions in clear view of the device is a great reminder for workers who use the equipment routinely as well as for those who might use it only occasionally,” Dr. Mills explains. The checklists reinforce techniques and procedures introduced during training and encourage compliance every day, every time the equipment is used, he says. Including notes on warning lights and other trouble signs allows problems to be identified and addressed as they arise.

In addition to the posted checklists, it's also a good idea to keep all equipment manuals together in a central place, Dr. Mills notes. He suggests using a three-ring binder. "Make sure everyone in your practice knows where the binder is kept and encourage them to reference it as needed,” he says. "At the front, list each manufacturer's name, technical support phone number, and email address. "When you need assistance from the company, you have all the contact information at hand.”

"AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION - Little things can make a BIG difference"

Nan Kosydar Dreves RDH MBA, owner of her own consulting company, Professional Health Horizons, shared several helpful ideas including:

Provide a box of sandwich-size ziploc baggies to the front desk area.  Instruct the Front Desk Staff to provide these to patients who bring in crowns that have fallen off, broken partials, retainers or dentures when they check in for appointments and try to hand them to the receptionist.  The patient would be asked to place it in the bag and hang on to it until the clinicial staff can see them.  Or, if the appliance is needed ahead of the appointment, it will be containerized appropriately to avoid contaminating others.

1. Be sure everyone's names are written on the inside of the cuff of the heavy duty gloves utilized in the office. A "Sharpy" permanent ink marker works great. This will help alleviate using someone else's gloves by mistake. 3M makes a white plastic clip that is handy for hanging them up and can be moved easily.

Have a specific style pen that is only used in the business office, front desk and by patients. It should be different than those in the clinical area to readily differentiate them