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Dentistry

Chemical Hazards

• Reproductive Outcomes among Dental Personnel: A Review of Selected Exposures (PDF)
  http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-72/issue-9/821.pdf (CDA)
  >  This article appears in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of the Candian Dental Association and has been peer reviewed.

• The Environmentally Responsible Dental Office - A Guide to Best Management Practices of Dental Wastes (Feb. 2006) (PDF)
  http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03294.pdf (ODA)
  >  The Oregon Dental Association has developed this guide to assist dentists in how best to manage the disposal of dental office wastes. Reduction of toxic substances at the source is the pollution prevention goal of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

• Silicosis in Dental Laboratory Technicians --- Five States, 1994--2000
  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5309a3.htm (CDC)
  >  Silicosis is a debilitating, sometimes fatal, yet preventable occupational lung disease caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica dust. Although crystalline silica exposure and silicosis have been associated historically with work in mining, quarrying, sandblasting, masonry, founding, and ceramics, certain materials and processes used in dental laboratories also place technicians at risk for silicosis.

• What Dental Technicians Need to Know About Silicosis (PDF)
  http://www.state.nj.us/health/surv/documents/dent_bro.pdf (New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services)

• Control of Nitrious Oxide in Dental Operations, NIOSH Hazard Controls
  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nitoxide.html (NIOSH)
  >  Dental workers are exposed to Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) during administration of this anesthetic gas to patients. Exposures should be minimized to prevent short-term behavioral and long-term reproductive health effects that can be produced by N₂O.

General

• NIOSH Safety and Health Topic: Dentistry
  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/dentistry/ (NIOSH)

• OSHA Safety and Health Topic: Dentistry
  http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/dentistry/index.html (OSHA)
  >  Dental professionals are at risk for exposure to numerous biological, chemical, environmental, physical, and psychological workplace hazards. These hazards include but are not limited to the spectrum of bloodborne pathogens, pharmaceuticals and other chemical agents, human factors, ergonomic hazards, noise, vibration, and workplace violence...

Infection Control

• Reducing Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure in Dentistry: an update
  http://www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/REU/bloodborne/REU_BBPdent1.html (CA DOSH)
  >  California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) presents information to assist employers in reducing bloodborne pathogens exposure in dentistry.

• Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings (2003)
  http://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/infectioncontrol/guidelines/ (CDC)
  >  Theses new guidelines were developed for dental health care personnel. The 2003 Guidelines update and revise previous guidelines and consolidate recommendations from other relevant CDC guidelines as well as those of other major infection control organizations.

Physical Hazards

• American Dental Association: Ergonomics for Dental Students
  http://www.ada.org/sections/educationAndCareers/pdfs/ergonomics.pdf (ADA)
  >  Clinical dentistry is physically demanding in some very specific ways. Backs, necks, shoulders, wrists and hands that for some reason are vulnerable to injury may be challenged by a combination of position, repetitive motion, stress, and even leisure activities.

Also see Mercury > Dental Amalgams

Also see Beryllium > Dental Labs

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