The Security Rule under the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires dental providers, as HIPAA-covered entities, to adopt adequate means for safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI). One of these safeguards…
attic The American Dental Association (ADA) published updated guidelines in the September 2023 issue of the Journal of American Dental Association (JADA) for managing acute dental pain in pediatric patients. The evidence-based guidelines consist of seven recommendations and five good…
Once a year, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) holds Safe + Sound Week, which is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on…
As stated in our blog article published on May 3rd, effective June 27, 2023, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) requires all DEA-registered practitioners, including dentists, to meet a one-time, 8-hour training requirement on identifying, treating, and managing patients with opioid or…
In the course of treating patients, dental offices routinely use disinfectants/sterilants, corrosive materials, heavy metals, and other hazardous materials, generating small quantities of hazardous wastes that must be managed properly to prevent environmental contamination. Hazardous waste is chemical waste with…
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that a study released on June 22, 2023found that overall e-cigarette monthly unit sales increased by 46.6%—from 15.5 million units in January of 2020, to 22.7 million units in December…
According to an article in the May 2023 edition of Board Matters, the Dental Board of California’s (DBC’s)online news publication, the DBC will be resuming random continuing education (CE) audits of active licensees each month to ensure licensees are completing…
Occasionally, we receive inquiries about whether or not dental auxiliaries are allowed to perform a specific dental task, or “duty”, in California. Recently, we were asked if dental assistants (DAs) may perform Invisalign procedures in California. In general, the best…
Recently, the US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)announced three separate Resolution Agreements for potential violations by healthcare providers. The first incident involved a potential violation of federal civil rights laws, while the second…
In March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) sent a guidance letter to registrants concerning a new, one-time training requirement for all DEA-registered practitioners, including dentists. The Medication Access and Training Expansion Act, which was passed by Congress on December…
