Standard Precautions
STANDARD PRECAUTIONS
Standard precautions apply to contact with blood; all body fluids, secretions, and excretions except sweat, regardless of whether they contain blood; non-intact skin; and mucous membranes.
"WHY" STANDARD PRECAUTIONS
1. "Bloodborne Pathogens" means pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not limited to hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
2. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends Standard Precautions based on the rational that medical history and examination cannot reliably identify all patients with bloodborne pathogens.
3. The goal of good infection control in dentistry is to treat every patient as though he or she is infected with an incurable and potentially fatal disease.
4. Standard precautions does not prevent the use of needed additional infection control procedures to protect a patient who is so severely medically compromised that additional precautions are needed to provide for safe treatment of that patient.
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