Cell Phone Use in the Dental Office

Cell Phone Use in the Dental Office. When is it appropriate and when does it pose a danger to the patient?

Cell phones are everywhere.

Not so long ago, phones were assigned to the kitchen wall. You could only travel as far as the cord would allow. Now, we take our cell phones with us to the grocery store, doctor’s office, work, and vacation.

We even take them into the bathroom, not being able to bring ourselves to part with our lifeline to the world for even a few minutes.

Your cell phone likely has ten times the bacteria that your toilet seat does. At least someone cleans the toilet once in a while. When was the last time you wiped down your phone?

The germ count on a typical cell phone is astounding. In fact, it’s reported that a Ugandan man who stole a cell phone from a hospital contracted Ebola from it. It was probably not the smartest move to steal a cell phone from an area quarantined because of the virus.

We also share phones with each other – ‘here, look at this picture!’ and suddenly the phone is the purveyor of new germs. Those little creatures gleefully hop on to divide and conquer every shiny surface of that phone.

Besides being a huge drain on productivity at work (one study puts the loss to employers at over $4k per year for a $12 per hour employee), are these marvels of technology spreading disease?

The short answer is yes.

Cell phone use in the dental office

An article on the California Dental Association website by The Dentist’s Insurance Company recommends ‘banning cellphone and smartphone use while on duty, including sending or receiving personal calls, emails and text messages or using smartphone applications’. The reasons they cite are valid: Cell phone use promotes the appearance to patients that they are not a priority, and creates distractions which may contribute to liability issues. But what about those germs?

Cal-OSHA and the CDC have strict guidelines for infection control in the dental office. Most dentists absolutely enforce these guidelines, from disinfecting surfaces to properly disposing of waste. It’s safe to say that dental offices are generally among the cleanest places on Earth. This, of course, is true as long as the dental staff isn’t harboring their cell phones in their pockets while they work. Here are just a few of the potential areas of concern:

• It’s estimated that 20% of cell phones have some fecal matter on them. This is because users take them to the restroom and use them while they – ahem – ‘use the facilities’.
• Splatter happens. Working in a dental office means that you can be splattered with saliva or blood on occasion. Although careful steps are taken to avoid this, it can occur. Carrying a cell phone in your scrub pocket means that some of that splatter can end up on your phone. You’ll change your scrubs, but the phone will get overlooked.
• In a study of 300 individuals who worked in Dental Health Care or In-Hospital Care, the National Institute of Health found that cell phones, were in fact, one of the likely culprits in ‘Hospital Acquired Infections’.
• The same study concluded that Hospital Acquired Infections are an increasing global concern for the safety of patients. These infections affect more than 25% of the total health care admissions in developing countries, and many of them were believed to have been transmitted by health care workers who failed to follow prevention protocols.

If you’d like to read a synopsis of the study, click here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939586/

What is our policy regarding cell phone use in the dental office?

• Our team regularly gets training on the latest issues around bloodborne pathogens. During a recent training, the OSHA trainer reported that a Hepatitis A outbreak occurred in a restaurant where a food-preparer was constantly checking a cell phone. He also mentioned reports of dental assistants checking their phones while wearing gloves, which are supposed to be sterile. Continual education is the most effective way to ensure prevention of disease.
• In our practice, we don’t allow cell phones to be kept in pockets or used while working. They must be stored in non-patient treatment areas.

If you have concerns about the use of cell phones in your doctor or dentist’s office, don’t be afraid to bring it to their attention. It’s likely the practice has a policy already, and they should be happy to share it with you.

At Caring Tree, we always welcome questions and comments. Our goal is that we provide the finest care of your child’s oral health, in a clean and friendly environment.