Characteristics of infection control programs in U.S. Air Force dental clinics: a survey.
BACKGROUND
National organizations and regulatory agencies have issued a number of guidelines on proper infection control procedures in dentistry. The objective of the authors' research was to gather information about current infection control practices in U.S. Air Force (USAF) Dental Corps clinics for the purpose of updating previously issued guidelines and developing infection control training programs.


METHODS
The authors mailed a 60-item self-administered survey to the commanders of all USAF dental clinics located in the United States and overseas (n=82). The survey used primarily fixed-response questions to gather information about aspects of the clinics' infection control programs. The authors obtained descriptive statistics of the returned data by means of a statistical software package.


RESULTS
The results indicated a high degree of compliance with existing USAF dental infection control guidelines. All clinics had personnel assigned to manage their programs, had a written exposure control plan and took measures to improve dental unit water quality. Facilities used a number of approaches to achieve and monitor compliance and exhibited a considerable amount of variation in infection control procedures when specific guidelines did not exist.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, USAF dental clinics reported high levels of compliance with current infection control policies and procedures. Recurrent training, continual oversight, a highly motivated staff and teamwork are essential for reaching and maintaining these levels. Clinical Implications. Although compliance with recommended infection control guidelines is challenging, the results of this survey indicate that compliance is achievable, even in large group practices.
Harte
Jennifer A
JA
U.S Air Force Dental Corps, USAF Dental Investigation Service, Great Lakes, IL 60088, USA. jaharte@nidbr.med.navy.mil
Charlton
David G
DG
D003740:Dental Clinics / Q000592:standards; D003748:Dental Equipment / Q000382:microbiology; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D016357:Infection Control Practitioners; D019552:Infection Control, Dental / Q000592:standards; D007318:Inservice Training; D008885:Military Dentistry; D009042:Motivation; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D011481:Protective Clothing; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States; D014871:Water Microbiology