Under this regime, procedures to protect healthcare workers from bloodborne pathogens are referred to as Standard Precautions. In the dental setting, the precaution regimes are identical to Universal Precautions and will now be referred to as Standard-Universal Precautions . Since all patients are assumed to be infectious, access to care must not be delayed or denied to patients solely on the basis of known or suspected seropositivity for bloodborne pathogens. Requests for serologic examination of patients should be made on the basis of medical considerations and routine treatment should not ordinarily be deferred pending results of those tests. This form should be placed on the left side of the patient's dental record, and serves as a valuable communication tool between PH and the dental clinic.
Clinical attire is the basic clothing ensemble worn for dental treatment.
Clinical attire must be supplemented with PPE when exposure to blood or OPIM is reasonably anticipated. If clinical attire becomes contaminated during the course of clinical treatment, the employer should launder the item. Skirts should not be worn when exposure to blood or OPIM is reasonably anticipated. Civilian clothing must be supplemented with long-sleeved PPE when effective isolation of the operative field cannot be accomplished and exposure to blood or OPIM is anticipated. Short-sleeved scrub shirts and pants may be worn as clinical attire.