Infectious Transmission
Image: ada.org
An oral surgeon educated in Boston, Dr. George Hatzigiannis serves the reconstructive needs of patients throughout Massachusetts. Focused on quality care, Dr. George Hatzigiannis has completed extensive continuing education coursework in his field, including a course on oral pathology and infection control.
An early 2017 editorial piece from Medscape and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought clarity to steps that can be taken to prevent rare cases of infectious transmission between patients and dental professionals. Areas of concern include proper dental hand-piece heat-sterilization, maintaining dental unit waterlines, and the monitoring of autoclaves through spore testing.
Another area of focus is on ensuring that the use of anesthetic cartridges and needles is limited to one patient when local anesthesia is administered. In addition, the dental cartridge syringe should be heat-sterilized and cleaned between each patient use. If multidose vials are employed in certain situations, such as conscious sedation, they should be properly stored and handled. Ideally, they should be dedicated to a single patient use throughout the course of treatment.
Dr. George Hatzigiannis 
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