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…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared May 5th, 2023, to be World Hand Hygiene Day. As part of a major global effort to improve hand hygiene in healthcare, WHO launched the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands annual global campaign in 2009.…
This is a query that we often hear from our clients. Most waste generated by dental offices falls into the category of minimally contaminated, general solid waste and thus may be discarded in the regular trash. Some examples include used…
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health concern, and combatting it requires a multi-faceted approach. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dentists prescribe around 10% of overall outpatient antibiotic prescriptions nationally. Up to 85% of…
Under the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA’s) Security Rule, covered entities, including most dental offices, are required to adopt adequate means for safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI. This includes conducting a security risk analysis…
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a Consumer Update for the general public on how to use hand sanitizers safely and effectively. Hand sanitizers are regulated as over-the-counter drugs by the FDA. Besides use by the general…
