---
title: "What Is Infection control? Dental Practice Glossary"
description: "Infection control is the set of practices that stop disease from spreading among patients and staff in the dental office."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/infection-control
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Compliance and risk

# Infection control

Infection control is the set of practices that stop disease from spreading among patients and staff in the dental office.

The CDC says all dental settings, regardless of the level of care provided, must make infection prevention a priority. Offices should be equipped to observe Standard Precautions and other CDC infection prevention recommendations.

The CDC checklist for dental settings looks at items such as staff training, adequate supplies and at least one person trained in infection prevention who coordinates the program.

See [standard precautions](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/standard-precautions) for the base set of steps. Worker protection rules appear in the OSHA [bloodborne pathogens standard](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/bloodborne-pathogens-standard). Many offices record their steps on a [compliance checklist](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/compliance-checklist).

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Standard precautions](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/standard-precautions)
-   [Bloodborne pathogens standard](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/bloodborne-pathogens-standard)
-   [Compliance checklist](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/compliance-checklist)
-   [OSHA](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/osha)

## Sources

1.  [CDC: Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings](https://www.cdc.gov/dental-infection-control/hcp/summary/index.html)
2.  [CDC: Infection Prevention Checklist for Dental Settings](https://www.cdc.gov/dental-infection-control/media/pdfs/Infection-Prevention-Checklist-for-Dental-Settings-fillable-form.pdf)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)