No new dental requirements in updated CDC infection control guidance

ADA shares takeaways for developing employee health policies

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated infection control guidance for healthcare personnel excludes dentists, the American Dental Association says there are still takeaways owner dentists may find useful when developing employee health policies.

The CDC added a new viral respiratory infections section to Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel: Epidemiology and Control of Selected Infections Transmitted Among Healthcare Personnel and Patients. The addition consolidates and updates recommendations for managing healthcare personnel who are exposed to or ill with respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza and RSV — streamlining the CDC’s previous pathogen-specific approach into one set of recommendations and superseding past return-to-work recommendations for SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal influenza. 

The CDC does not include dentists in the updated guidance because it maintains separate dental infection prevention recommendations. The updates do not modify standard precautions or introduce any new infection control requirements for dental practices.

However, according to the ADA, the guidance may serve as a reminder to dental employers to:

• Update employee health policies.
• Review employees’ vaccination and immunity documentation.
• Establish exposure-response and illness-reporting protocols, including for pregnant team members.
• Create return-to-work procedures for infectious diseases.
• Align occupational health procedures with dental-specific CDC recommendations and applicable legal requirements.
• Educate team members about policies and changes.