Skip to content
Off the Cusp

Off the Cusp

Dental industry news, trends and information from Patterson Dental.

Menu
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Business of Dentistry
      • Dental Practice Marketing
      • Practice Finance
      • Practice Growth
    • Dental Industry News
      • Industry Events
    • Dental Practice Management
      • Human Resources
    • Dental Practice Safety
      • Infection Control
    • Future of Dentistry
      • Dental Equipment
      • Dental Technology
      • CAD/CAM
  • About
    • Off The Cusp Privacy Policy
    • Off The Cusp Terms of Use
  • pattersondental.com
  • Home
  • Patterson Dental
  • Like This, Not Like That: How to Dress for Infection Control Success
Dental Office Education Patterson Dental Tooth Picks

Like This, Not Like That: How to Dress for Infection Control Success

Patterson DentalPatterson Dental Patterson DentalNovember 4, 2016April 2, 2020
how to dress for infection control success

Share

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Read Time:2 Minute, 36 Second

like this not that: how to dress for infection control success

You’ve put on your favorite brand of mask and tossed on a new pair of disposable gloves, which means you’re protected, compliant, and ready to see your first patient, right? Not necessarily. Just because you have a mask on, doesn’t mean you’re wearing it correctly. Just because you have hard soled shoes, doesn’t mean they’re the right kind of hard soled shoes. The diagrams below offer quick tips on how to avoid the “wrong way” and embrace the “right way” to dress, in order to be fully OSHA compliant and achieve maximum infection control success.

“Not Like That:” The WRONG Way to Dress for Proper Infection Control

the wrong way to dress for infection control

  1. Mask Placement: Your mask should be worn over your nose, not under it, so that it covers both your nose and your chin. The nose of the mask should be pinched.
  2. Protective Eyewear: Always wear safety glasses. If you have prescription glasses but not a prescription face shield, your prescription glasses may be worn along with side shields.
  3. Hairstyle: Hair should be worn up and back, versus down and loose.
  4. Scrubs: A scrub jacket is ideal. If you don’t have one available, a tight-fitting, long sleeve, high-necked shirt should be worn beneath your scrub top to limit the amount of exposed skin.
  5. Jewelry: If you’re lucky enough to have a big rock on your left hand, congratulations! It’s best to safely stow away rings during office hours, however, as they have a tendency to break through gloves. Dangling necklaces and earrings should also be avoided.
  6. Arm Placement: Once you have your gloves on, keep your hands at your sides. If your arms are crossed – as pictured above – the gloves may become contaminated.
  7. Footwear: Open toe sandals should never be worn in the office. The ideal footwear is a pair of close toe, plain tennis shoes.

“Like This:” The RIGHT Way to Dress for Proper Infection Control

the right way to dress for infection control

  1. Hairstyle: Hair is secured and pulled up and back. (There are plenty of fashionable, easy to execute up-do ideas available to keep things interesting!)
  2. Protective Eyewear: Safety glasses are on, and are the proper fit for the size of the face.
  3. Mask Placement: Mask covers both the nose and the chin. Mask is pinched around the bridge of the nose.
  4. Jewelry: No dangling jewelry or rings are worn.
  5. Scrubs: Scrub jacket is worn. This is ideal because scrub jackets can be easily removed and placed immediately in a bag, keeping all spatter contained and avoiding cross-contamination.
  6. Gloves: Gloves are pulled over the cuffs of the sleeves. Nails are short and clean.
  7. Footwear: Close toe, plain tennis shoes are worn. Laces are secured.

Taking the proper precautions when it comes to infection control is essential to protecting yourself, your patients, and your fellow team members. Besides following these simple styling tips, you can visit this page to read about additional products and recommendations for keeping your practice OSHA compliant. We hope these style suggestions leave you feeling confident about your compliance! If you have any questions about which products are featured in the diagrams above, feel free to let us know in the comments section.

Patterson DentalPatterson Dental

About Post Author

Patterson Dental

At Patterson Dental, we are committed to partnering with dental practices of all sizes to help oral health professionals practice extraordinary dentistry. We do this by living up to our promise of Trusted Expertise, Unrivaled Support every day.
https://www.pattersondental.com/
Tagged compliance, dental fashion, dental hairstyles, fashion, how to, Infection Control, OSHA, scrubs, style, style tips, this not that, wardrobe

Post navigation

Previous

Previous post:

Psst…Use Section 179 to Boost Your Bottom Line

Next

Next post:

3 Reasons Electronic Safety Data Sheet Maintenance Makes More “Cents”

6 thoughts on “Like This, Not Like That: How to Dress for Infection Control Success”

  1. maureen says:
    November 14, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    what about finger nails !

    1. Aleksandra Sobic Aleksandra Sobic says:
      November 15, 2016 at 10:50 am

      Yes Ma’am, Maureen! Definitely an important one 🙂 We included it in #4 in the “right way” column: short and clean nails are very important! Thanks so much for reading.

  2. Beth Cobb says:
    November 16, 2016 at 7:51 am

    Great Article !!

    1. Aleksandra Sobic Aleksandra Sobic says:
      November 16, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      Thanks so much, Beth! We appreciate your readership, and of course, your positive feedback 🙂

  3. Pingback: 10 Ways to Have Fun at Work - Off The Cusp
  4. Pingback: Egg-stremely Cute Dental Easter Eggs - Off The Cusp

Comments are closed.

Subscribe

* indicates required

Connect with us

LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest

Recent posts

  • Integrating CAD/CAM dentistry into your practice with advanced materials
  • 3D printing: The future of digital dentistry
  • 4 Eaglesoft Insurance Suite features to save time and speed up your revenue cycle
  • Dental office design: An architect’s perspective
  • National Smile Month: 5 ways to get involved and engage your local community

Search Off the Cusp

Close
Menu
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Business of Dentistry
      • Dental Practice Marketing
      • Practice Finance
      • Practice Growth
    • Dental Industry News
      • Industry Events
    • Dental Practice Management
      • Human Resources
    • Dental Practice Safety
      • Infection Control
    • Future of Dentistry
      • Dental Equipment
      • Dental Technology
      • CAD/CAM
  • About
    • Off The Cusp Privacy Policy
    • Off The Cusp Terms of Use
  • pattersondental.com

Related Post

Periodontal disease is no respecter of persons

May 9, 2022May 11, 2022

Preventing, diagnosing and treating periodontal disease

April 26, 2022April 26, 2022

How dental practices can protect themselves from cyberattacks

April 25, 2022April 25, 2022

4 tips for going green at your dental practice

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

Endodontic case selection: Know when to treat, know when to refer

April 14, 2022April 14, 2022

Preparing for success: Cavity preps and the best tools for long-lasting restorations

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022
Copyright Patterson Dental. All rights reserved.
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.