According to the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP), during the mid-1990s, when the case of the Florida dentist who infected six patients with HIV became national news, there was public outcry (and subsequent legislation) to require certain precautions be taken to prevent disease transmission. Patient awareness and fear of infection, along with the late 1980’s uncertainty about the exact modes of HIV transmission, drove dental professionals to adopt universal precautions and begin considering all blood and certain body fluids as potentially harboring bloodborne viruses. Later, these expanded into standard precautions, which encompass all body fluids (with the exception of sweat) and all infectious diseases—not just bloodborne viruses.
“This changed the standard of care, and dental professionals who did not adopt these changes exposed themselves to potential liability if a patient or employee contracted or suspected they contracted an illness in the dental office,” explains the nonprofit association. “For the last five years, major infection prevention groups have refined their emphases, including a shift from the term ‘infection control’ to ‘infection prevention.’ Control indicates a reduction in numbers of cases, while prevention means elimination—‘zero tolerance.’”
