Are You Practicing Your Lines? Infection Control | Gaylene Baker, RDH, BSDH, MBS

Course Description: Are You Practicing Your Lines? Actors use scripts with dialogue and directions to practice. This helps them to get into character for accurate delivery of their lines in a natural and convincing manner. They often memorize the exact words of the script. The process of learning lines involves more than just rote memorization. There needs to be a focus on the character’s motivations, unique personality, location, and historical time of the scene. Do you practice your dental lines? Not the ones clinicians often use and memorize for presenting patient care, but the ones clinicians use to provide care for patients. Or do you think you have your dental lines memorized and everything is fine? Dental lines include waterlines, evacuation lines, and compressor lines. Each one requires different maintenance and monitoring to ensure the best patient care outcomes. Because dental facilities are dynamic and change periodically, (new employees, a change in the number of functional operatories, increasing or decreasing the days worked, purchase of new equipment) dental lines need to be rehearsed often. This 2-hour course is designed for all members of a dental team to learn the reasons dental lines need to be maintained and monitored, different options for maintenance and monitoring, and the potential consequences of what can and has happened when dental lines aren’t maintained and monitored. Course Objectives: 1. Understand why dental unit waterlines develop biofilm. 2. Develop procedures and protocols for maintaining, shocking, and testing dental unit waterlines. 3. Be aware of the importance a proper functioning dental vacuum and air compressor have for providing safe dental care.