Becker's Dental + DSO Review

14 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW - VOL. 4 OCTOBER 2020 QUALITY & INFECTION CONTROL Preventive dental visits reduce ventilator- associated pneumonia risk by 22%, DentaQuest finds By Katie Adams P atients who maintain routine dental care are less likely to acquire ventilator-associated pneumonia, according to a recent DentaQuest report. Many COVID-19 patients are placed on ventilators to survive during their hospital stays, and their depressed immune sys- tems make them highly susceptible to infections from bacte- ria that grows in the oral cavity and travels to the lungs, ac- cording to the report. To learn more about the relationship between oral health and decreased infection risks, DentaQuest used the IBM Watson MarketScan Medicaid Database to analyze inpatient admin- istrative claims data for Medicaid ICU patients from 2016 to 2018. It found patients with at least one preventive dental vis- it within three years of being placed on a ventilator are 22 percent less likely to be diagnosed with ventilator-associated pneumonia than those who did not. The study also found Black patients are 39 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ventilator-associated pneumonia than white patients and men are 20 percent more likely to be diag- nosed with ventilator-associated pneumonia than women. n Massachusetts dental practice fined $9.5K for COVID-19 safety violations By Gabrielle Masson T he Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Georgetown (Mass.) Dental for seven safety measure vi- olations. OSHA cited Georgetown Dental for six serious violations and one other-than-serious violation. The dental practice paid a $9,500 fine for failing to provide medical evaluations and fit testing for employees required to wear N95 respirators. The practice also lacked written programs related to respi- ratory protection, had insufficient bloodborne pathogen training and controls, and had inadequate eyewash stations, according to OSHA. n New Mexico dentist reopens practice after recovering from COVID-19 By Gabrielle Masson A Santa Fe, N.M.-based dental practice reopened after closing for nearly two weeks when the dentist contract- ed COVID-19, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Jared French, DMD, said he saw one patient Sept. 14 and then went home after feeling an itch in his throat. He took a COVID-19 test and closed his practice two days later when it came back positive. While Dr. French was awaiting his test re- sults, a dental hygienist saw patients. A patient, assistant and dental hygienist who were at the office before it closed Sept. 16 all tested negative. "It's a dicey situation. You have to open back up, but you want to protect people," Dr. French said. "I think the proof is in the pudding, as there was no transmission." The New Mexico Environment Department said the practice was following COVID-19 safety guidelines and a further in- vestigation wasn't warranted, according to Maddy Hayden, an agency spokesperson. At least one patient thought the dentist should have closed sooner or alerted patients about the possible infection. "If someone had told me he was sick and went to get tested, I would have changed my appointment," said Harriet Schreiner, who visited the office Sept. 16. "Nobody said anything to me about the doctor testing positive. I think that was negligent." n Scientist receives $450K+ to develop self-cleaning dental material By Gabrielle Masson T he National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research has granted $459,000 to Jirun Sun, PhD, a scientist with the Amer- ican Dental Association Science & Research Institute, to de- velop self-cleaning dental material. The proposed research would aim to develop pH-respon- sive "smart" materials that prevent biofilm formation. Successful completion of the project would advance re- search into materials that could reduce dental infection and pain. n

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