Traveler’s Guide to Safe Dental Care
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Organization for
Safety and Asepsis Procedures Foundation Publish Traveler’s Guide to Safe
Dental Care
A new brochure designed to assist individuals on how
to receive safe dental care when traveling outside the United States is now
available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
and the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures (OSAP) Foundation.
The Traveler’s Guide to Safe Dental Care provides tips for people
when selecting a dental provider abroad and identifies basic infection
control principles and practices that help travelers avoid unnecessary
risks.
Although dental care is not an anticipated event for most travelers,
unexpected emergencies such as severe toothache, an abscess or a broken
tooth or filling can arise, causing individuals to seek immediate
treatment.
"In many areas, items such as gloves, sterile instruments,
disposable needles, and safe water are not routine elements of dental
practice," says Dr. Jennifer L. Cleveland, who manages the infection
control activities of CDC’s oral health program. "This new resource
can help international travelers obtain safe dental care when traveling and
avoid potential situations that could lead to exposure to microorganisms or
other contaminants."
The guide provides a series of steps people can take before leaving home
to minimize the potential for a dental emergency. It also offers
suggestions for finding a dentist, choosing medications, and assessing
infection control practices in a dental office. A handy checklist provides
a series of questions for the overseas dental office to ensure that it uses
appropriate precautions to prevent disease transmission. These include
- Do staff wash their hands with soap between patients?
- Do staff wear gloves for all procedures?
- Are new needles used for each patient?
- Is sterile water used for surgical procedures?
Related Link
To obtain a free copy of the Traveler’s Guide to Safe Dental Care,
or for more information on OSAP and its mission, contact OSAP at (800)
298-OSAP, or visit http://www.osap.org.*
View the online brochure at
http://www.osap.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=55.*
* Links to non-Federal organizations are
provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an
endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none
should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual
organization Web pages found at this link.
Historical Document
Page last reviewed: June 1, 2007
Content source:
Division of Oral Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
