| With the soaring prices of health care in this country today, have the increasing costs of state of the art dental technology and mandated Occupational Safety Health Administration (OHSA), American Dental Association (ADA), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the American Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements come at a bad time?
Not only has the latest technology including intraoral cameras, computerized radiographic machines, lasers, or air abrasive instrumentation provided dental practitioners with state of the art capabilities to better diagnose dental disease and provide more comfortable treatment, it has increased the cost of care. With the desire of most practitioners to keep up and provide excellent care to the patient another major expense has taken the forefront.
Dentistry has made unbelievable strides in infection control over the past 10 years. In recent years more infection control procedures have been implemented in order to bring dental offices in compliance with the ADA and OHSA standards. Among the more obvious precautions are gloves, masks, glasses, and plastic barriers on light handles, chairs and instruments. The less obvious items include sterilization (destruction of all microorganisms) of all instruments including handpieces, proper packaging or encasement of instruments to decrease the exposure to blood borne pathogens by the staff and a weekly spore testing of the autoclave sterilizer (steam under pressure) to determine if bacteria and viruses are indeed killed.
Items, which cannot be sterilized, are disposed of. All employees who have the potential of exposure are vaccinated against Hepatitis B. All surfaces are cleaned with solutions, which kill bacteria and viruses. Water for all cleanings and dental procedures are now required to come from a reservoir on the dental chair or unit to prevent the transmission of bacteria into the oral environment.
Most of the aforementioned sterilization techniques are required to provide a safe environment for dental treatment. Currently costs are approximately $5 to $20 per procedure, averaging $16 depending on the type of items uses. One of the major costs includes high and slow-speed handpieces, which average around $700 to $1,000 respectfully. An established dental practice would be required to have at least six of each of both handpieces to function daily. In an issue of Dental Economics it was stated that the yearly cost of the updated sterilization procedures in a busy practice today is better than $20,000.
Dentistry is a proud component of the medical/dental profession and the great majority of practitioners place patient care at the top of their practice priorities. We as health care providers are continuing every measure to insure the safety and welfare of patients even with the skyrocketing costs of equipment, materials and necessary sterilization measures.
Gordon Christensen, the founder and co-director of Clinical Research associates of Provo, Utah, summarizes it well with his statement to dentists in a past issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. “You’re worried about the cost? Do you think patients would agree to be treated in an HIV contaminated operatory if you lowered your fees? Raise your fees to provide income to allow easy and thorough implementation of the OHSA, ADA, CDC and the other agency requirements and suggestions. Then keep alert but relaxed, knowing that you are doing everything necessary to protect yourself, your staff and your patients!”
(Editor’s Note: Dr. David Houpt practices in old town Silverdale at 8745 Pacific Ave. N. He can be reached at (360) 692-9437.). |
