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Standard precautions

Also called: universal precautions (older term)

Treat every patient's blood and body fluids as possibly infectious.

Standard precautions are the baseline for every patient, whether or not you know they have an infection. They apply to blood, all body fluids and secretions except sweat (in dentistry, saliva counts), broken skin and mucous membranes. They include hand hygiene, PPE, safe sharps handling, cleaning and disinfection, and respiratory hygiene.

What you do

  1. Use the same careful routine for every patient.

Related

Sources: CDC. Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003. MMWR 2003;52(RR-17), CDC. Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care (2016)