Infection Control and Sterilization Requirements
The standard of care
Arizona licensees must follow accepted infection control standards, including standard precautions treating all blood and saliva as potentially infectious. The Board's rules and adopted guidance address hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, sharps safety, surface disinfection, and the handling of regulated waste. Candidates should know the sequence for reprocessing reusable instruments and the indicators that a sterilization cycle was adequate.
Sterilization essentials
Critical and semicritical items require cleaning followed by sterilization; sterilization is not a substitute for cleaning. Know the common methods (steam autoclave, dry heat, chemical vapor, and appropriate chemical sterilants), the role of biological indicators (spore tests) and chemical indicators, and that mechanical, chemical, and biological monitoring together document a validated cycle. Traps include items that state a chemical indicator alone proves sterility, or that disinfection is sufficient for an item that penetrates tissue.
Practical traps
Expect questions on the use of barriers versus disinfection of surfaces, the handling of handpieces (they require sterilization between patients because they retract fluids), and the storage of sterile packs. Also expect items on needlestick exposure and post-exposure evaluation, and on the requirement that infection control be documented.
Rule of thumb
Classify the item first: critical (enters tissue or bone), semicritical (contacts mucosa), or noncritical (contacts intact skin). Critical and semicritical items get cleaning plus sterilization; noncritical surfaces get cleaning plus an appropriate disinfectant.
Worked example
An item describes wiping a contaminated bur with an intermediate-level disinfectant and reusing it. A bur penetrates tissue and is critical; disinfection is inadequate. The correct answer requires cleaning and sterilization before reuse.