Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1463220
24 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW // VOL. 2022 NO. 2 QUALITY & INFECTION CONTROL CDC offers mobile app for dentists to ensure practices meet infection control standards By Gabrielle Masson D ental professionals can use the mobile application CDC DentalCheck to assess and ensure practices meet expectations for safe care. The app is developed directly from the CDC's infection pre- vention checklist for dental settings and is free to download. Users can check "yes" or "no" for adherence to office policies or practices. It reviews basic infection prevention principles and links to full recommendations and source documents for dental settings. The results and notes can be exported for re- cord management. Infection prevention coordinators are encouraged to use the app at least once a year to assess administrative policies and practices, and engage in direct observation of personnel and patient-care practices. n Image Credit: Adobe Stock CDC updates guidance for mask-wearing, infection control for oral care providers By Gabrielle Masson T he CDC updated its infection and control prevention measures for oral healthcare providers Feb. 8, as well as eased indoor mask guidance for the general public Feb. 25. Eight things to know: Updated infection and control measures include: 1. Quarantine is recommended for patients who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 if they're not up to date with all recommended vaccine doses. 2. Quarantine is not needed for asymptomatic patients who are up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine dos- es or who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days; potential exceptions are described in the guidance. Some pa- tients should still be tested. 3. A test-based strategy and consultation with infectious dis- ease experts is now recommended for determining the dura- tion of quarantine for COVID-19 patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. 4. Additional examples when universal respirator use could be considered. New community masking guidelines 5. The CDC is now relying on how COVID-19 is affecting a community's healthcare system — rather than transmission rates alone — as a guide for mask recommendations. 6. Under the new framework, an area falls in one of three COVID-19 community levels, with recommended prevention measures varying by level. About half of U.S. counties, repre- senting nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population, were in the low or medium COVID-19 community category as of Feb. 25, CDC officials said. 7. The agency also updated guidance for schools, recom- mending universal mask-wearing only in schools in communi- ties at the high level. 8. CDC officials emphasized that people who remain at higher risk for COVID-19, such as people with immunocompromising conditions, may choose to take extra precautions, regardless of their community's COVID-19 level. n