Registered Dental Hygienist

Stoma Introduces Its First Dove® Saliva Ejector Valve With Backfow Prevention.

Recent Bacteria Swab Testing Results show that surface wiping of evacuation valves

does not eliminate bacteria. Eliminate the risk and provide
a clean disposable valve for each patient.

NEW Saliva Ejector Valve with Backfow Prevention

150 Valves − AS2001B − 150

STUDY SHOWS WIPING NOT EFFECTIVE

WWW.DOVEDENTAL.COM

pressure created in the patient’s mouth. Studies report that gravity pulls fluid back toward patient’s mouth when tube positioning is above the patient’s mouth or when both high or low suction is used at the same time. Unfortunately—like not going into the water for 30 minutes after eating myth—we have taught our patients to close their lips around the saliva ejector.

The CDC recommends that the dental community advise their patients not to close their lips around the saliva ejector. CDC concluded that research confirms the significant risk in backflow with microbial cross contamination between patients.

Is your office using old, outdated
operating procedures that
are as myth based as wa-
termelon seeds germinat-
ing in your stomach? Up-
dated written policies and
procedures are a must for
any dental setting. Stan-
dard operating proce-
dures (SOP) can be used
for training and OSHA
safety purposes. These
policies should be re-
viewed on an annual ba-
sis. Checklists are power-
ful. For reminders of what
might be forgotten in daily routines, go to
oshatrainingbootcamp.com to find check-
lists and more.

REPLACING THE OLD

Replacing an old car with a new car in-
creases safety with airbags, hands-free
phone connection, and cameras in the
rear panel to prevent hitting a child or
running over a bicycle. The prevention is
worth every penny. Valves are now avail-
able to keep patients safe in any dental
facility. New disposable versions are clean
and offer backflow prevention. We need
to protect our patients from microbial
biohazardous debris and possible trans-
mission of disease via backflow. The Hip-
pocratic Oath and professional ethical
standards demand that we first do no
harm.

Editor’s Note: This article’s preparation was supported by Dove Dental, Inc.

Patricia Pine, RDH, COM, is a national and international speaker on topics including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety, infection prevention, and orofacial myology. She conducts in-office OSHA boot camps and seminars for the dental community, and she is a member of the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) speaker’s consultant bureau. She can be reached at 1smile4ever@cox.net or OSHAtrainingbootcamp.com.