Three days. Zero fluff. The 2026 Boot Camp packed practical, do-this-now guidance to protect patients, your team, and your license. Check out all the key takeaways!
Missed it live? Register for the on-demand recordings available starting February 23 until June 5.
DAY 1 — BUILD THE FOUNDATION
Patient Safety & Principles of Infection Control (Eve Cuny, MS, CDIPC)
- Don’t let illness walk in: educate patients and staff to stay home when sick
- Use Standard Precautions for every patient
- Stay situationally aware: track circulating diseases, transmission risks, and symptoms; use CDC resources
- Train staff on infection prevention and control (IPC) and personal protective equipment (PPE) use—regularly
- Know your health department contacts before you need them
Environmental cleaning and device reprocessing
- Know how to clean every surface and piece of equipment
- Follow manufacturer instructions—no improvising
- Assign ownership so nothing falls through the cracks
Dental IPC Resource Toolbox: Essential Resources and Tools (Sarah Stream, MPH, CDIPC, CDA, FADAA)
Plenty of high‑value, often free tools exist for facility programs and personal development- ADS Resources:
- From Policy to Practice: ADS's Guide to the CDC Guidelines
- OSHA & CDC Guidelines: ADS Interact Training System
- CDC Resources
- Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care
- Foundations: Building the Safest Dental Visit
- ADS/DANB/DALE Foundation Resources
This list isn't exhaustive—keep building your toolkit!
Getting A Handle on Standards, Guidelines, Recommendations, and Best Practices (Fiona Collins, BDS, MBA, MA)
- Federal regulations/recommendations are your baseline
- Voluntary consensus standards = best practices (and can become mandatory by reference)
- Every dental setting needs written policies and procedures
Respirators and Respiratory Protection Program (Kathy Eklund, RDH, MHP)
- Update IPC policies for source control, PPE, and respiratory protection
- Build a comprehensive respiratory protection program
- Stay current with CDC, NIOSH, OSHA, and state/local directives
Transmission-Based Precautions (Eve Cuny)
- Standard Precautions cover most scenarios
- Add transmission‑based measures as needed
- Expect updates to the 2007 guidance, potentially with new transmission categories
Dental Water Quality Assurance Program (Ramneek Rai, DDS)
- For municipal water units: shock/treat lines to remove biofilm or replace contaminated tubing
- Monitor per manufacturer instructions—at least every 3 months
- Use drinking‑water standard testing methods
- Don’t test for specific organisms unless investigating an infection/outbreak
- Report suspected waterborne infections to health authorities
- Review the White Paper
Occupational Health Considerations for Oral Health Professionals (Eve Cuny)
- Use a systematic, tailored program based on your team’s risks
- Strong occupational health links directly to patient safety
DAY 2 — LOCK IN COMPLIANCE AND CLINICAL SAFETY
Policy & Program Development, Program Evaluation (Kathy Eklund)
- Write it down: policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Train for real implementation
- Monitor, evaluate, and adjust when evidence changes
- Strong leadership sets expectations and prevents breaches
- Commit to continuous quality improvement
Legal Consequences of Non-Compliance with Infection Control in Dentistry (Olivia Wann, JD)
- Stay current with CDC guidelines, your state Dental Practice Act, and OSHA standards
- Consider earning the Certified in Dental Infection Prevention and Control (CDIPC) and/or Dental Industry Specialist in Infection Prevention and Control (DISIPC) certifications
- Audit your documentation and safety plans for alignment
- Do no harm—ethically and legally
Exposure Risk Determination & Postexposure Management (Karen Gregory, RN, CDIPC)
- Treat exposures as emergencies
- Plan now: contacts, relationships, protocols
- Educate relentlessly
Eye Safety in Dentistry (Marie Fluent, DDS, CDIPC, FACD)
- Train when/where/what to wear—then spread the word
- Get an eye exam
- Match patient eye protection to the dental health care personnel (DHCP) level of protection
- Protection for light curing and laser use is nonnegotiable
- Mind the gaps between mask and eyewear
- Personal eyewear and contacts are not PPE
Sterilization and Disinfection of Patient Care Items (Eve Cuny and Kathy Eklund)
- This is critical to patient safety—no skipped steps
- SOPs, training, and monitoring prevent errors
- Post step‑by‑step processes in sterilization areas
IPC Considerations for Portable Dental Programs (Kathy Eklund, Karen Gregory, and Michelle Strange, MSDH, RDH, CDIPC)
- Leadership and clear expectations prevent surprises and lapses
- Mobile clinics must meet the same quality standards as private practices
- Know your limits to ensure positive, lasting impact
Antibiotic Stewardship as a Standard Operating Procedure in Practice (Erinne Kennedy, DMD, MPH, MMSc)
- One dose can drive resistance and trigger allergies
- Prosthetic joints: consider prophylaxis only for immunocompromised patients undergoing invasive procedures
- Cardiovascular: prophylaxis only for invasive procedures with high‑risk conditions
- Screen for C. difficile history and limit clindamycin
- Explore ADS's antibiotic stewardship resources
DAY 3 — TIGHTEN OPERATIONS AND SUSTAIN
Operatory Preparation: Environmental Infection Control and Managing Waste (Joyce A. Moore, BSDH, RDH, CRCST, CDIPC, DISIPC)
- Document staff training and competencies
- Reprocessing follows a defined sequence—stick to it
- Use appropriate cleaners/disinfectants
- Keep spaces clutter‑free for safer, easier disinfection
- Follow federal, state, and local waste guidelines
Laboratory Infection Control and Safety (Kelli Mack, DDS)
- Transmission risks in the lab are real—and preventable
- Consistency and routine make processes effective
- Mitigation: Standard Precautions, immunizations, aseptic technique
- Coordinate and communicate between the clinic and lab
- Prioritize projectile and sharps safety
Sharps Safety (Karen Gregory)
- Prevention first
- Use sharps with built‑in safety features
- Let clinical teams evaluate new safety devices
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & Hand Hygiene (Joyce Moore and Sarah Stream)
- Dentistry has unique IPC needs—write site‑specific policies per OSHA standards and CDC recommendations
- PPE is the last line of defense—train selection and use
- Hand hygiene is your top infection‑prevention move—do it often and well
Hazard Communication Standard (Karen Gregory)
- Define how you receive hazardous chemicals
- Review updated safety data sheets (SDSs) and train on changes
- Update labels accordingly
- Annually review policies, written plans, and inventory
- Train at hire and when changes occur
Surveillance and Breaches in Infection Control in Dentistry (Eve Cuny and Sarah Stream)
- Worth a rewatch of the on-demand recording —packed with pitfalls to avoid!
From Insight to Action: Making Boot Camp Training Work for You (Karen Gregory and Doug Risk, DDS, CDIPC)
- Start now while it’s fresh
- Get organized and write the plan
- Do a comprehensive review; elevate concerns
- Build an action plan with annual reviews, continuous process improvement, inventory planning, and updated timelines
QUICK WINS TO IMPLEMENT THIS MONTH
- Post exposure protocol at every sink and break room; verify emergency contacts
- Assign cleaning and reprocessing ownership; publish a visible checklist
- Update respiratory protection policy and fit‑testing schedules
- Shock dental waterlines (or replace contaminated tubing) and set a 3‑month monitoring cadence
- Post sterilization SOPs step‑by‑step in the sterile area
- Standardize eye protection—close mask/eyewear gaps; enforce protection during curing/laser
- Swap in safety‑engineered sharps; have clinicians trial and select
- Audit hand hygiene compliance weekly; coach in the moment
- Run an SDS and label update; brief staff on changes
- Tighten antibiotic prescribing: screen for C. diff history; curb clindamycin; align with current prophylaxis criteria
- Map your occupational health program to role‑specific risks and document competencies
- Review the on-demand legal and surveillance sessions; align your documentation
BOTTOM LINE
Write it. Train it. Assign it. Monitor it. Improve it. Boot Camp made one thing crystal clear: infection control isn’t a binder—it’s a living system that protects people and keeps your practice on the right side of safety and the law.
For robust answers to lingering questions about dental infection prevention, occupational health, or patient safety, just Ask ADS! Ask ADS is our cutting-edge, AI-powered assistant. Members enjoy unlimited daily questions, a wide range of comprehensive response formats, including checklists and SOPs, plus the ability to upload and review files for completeness and accuracy.
Missed Boot Camp in Atlanta? Register for the on-demand recordings available starting February 23 until June 5.