Infection Control and Safety
Infection Control and Safety
This domain tests standard precautions, sterilization, surface management, sharps safety, and occupational health. The exam focuses on what breaks the chain of infection and what is required versus merely recommended.
Core rules
- Standard precautions apply to all patients: hand hygiene, gloves, gown, mask, and eye protection; treat all blood and body fluids as infectious.
- Critical items (surgical instruments, scalers) must be sterilized; semicritical items (mirrors, x-ray holders) need sterilization or high-level disinfection; noncritical surfaces need an EPA-registered disinfectant.
- Autoclave monitoring: physical (temperature and pressure), chemical (indicator strips), and biological (spore test) at least weekly and with each load if required by policy.
- Sharps: never recap by hand; use safety devices and sharps containers; report needlesticks immediately and follow post-exposure prophylaxis protocol.
- Dental unit waterlines require flushing and biocide treatment; high-volume evacuation reduces aerosols.
Worked example
A hygienist sustains a needlestick after scaling. Immediately wash with soap and water, report to the supervisor, complete an exposure report, and seek evaluation for HIV, HBV, and HCV post-exposure prophylaxis within hours. Reasoning: transmission risk depends on pathogen, depth, and viral load; time-sensitive prophylaxis and source evaluation are the priorities, not discipline.
Traps
- Wearing gloves as a substitute for hand hygiene.
- Using a disinfectant wipe on visibly soiled instruments before cleaning.
- Skipping biological monitoring because chemical strips passed.
- Recapping needles “carefully.”
- Assuming ultrasonic scalers are self-disinfecting.