Episode 1:

Michelle Strange and India Chance are pleased to bring you a new podcast to boost your infection control knowledge called Level Up Infection Prevention! We hope this inspired you to learn more and provide the resources to do so! In this episode Michelle and India let you know what to expect from the show, and tackle the Infection Control Coordinator (ICC)!

Episode Highlights: 

• What is Level Up Infection Prevention about
• Who is your infection control coordinator 
• ICC Breakdown 
• Survey on ICC
• Leadership 
• Responsibilities of ICC

Quotes:

“The goal is prevention”

“It doesn’t matter what its called, as long as this role is established within the office” 

“Your OSHA binder, that's a big deal in the practice”

“This is going to be the person that the team goes to for answers… this person needs to know where to go to receive this information” 

“Don’t make your minimums your maximums” 

“Less than 50% of offices have an ICC, yet it is recommended by the CDC”

“The ICC is a true leader and champion of the office” 

“This isn’t just for patients, this role is to make sure it is a safe environment for us as the dental professionals” 

Resources and Links: 

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 3: 

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing instrument reprocessing. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Sterilization vs. Disinfection 
• Categories, Critical, Semi- Critical, Non- Critical 
• Sharps Containers and Cassettes 
• Utility Gloves and PPE
• Waterlines
• Cold Sterile and Holding Solution
• Follow the recipe, and dry your instruments 

Quotes:

“Disinfection doesn’t get bacterial spores, which sterilization does” 

“People, people, people... we have got to stop disinfecting and sterilizing non-reusable items” 

“The instruments were contaminated… they fell off the tray, and stuck into someone's foot!”

“I want to go burn my face off afterwards… it is so gross” 

“The biggest thing is following the recipe”

“If you don’t follow the directions, you are not going to get the results of the claims” 

“Those drops of water… covers over parts of the contaminated instrument, and serve a barrier, allowing parts of the instrument to not be sterilized” 

“You should not get your infection control protocols from a Facebook post comment…”

“You have to challenge your equipment, don't just trust that it is working” 

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 4: 

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing op reprocessing. What to do when you come back to your op and need to turn it over. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Operatory Reprocessing Timeline and Steps 
• Efficiency 
• Barriers 
• What can be done with Clean Hands
• Standard Operating Procedures 

Quotes:

“This isn’t just between patients, it's at the end of the day, and the beginning of the day as well” 

“I am way OCD to not set my trays up in the morning” 

“Before your patient, and after your patient, you should be running your air/water lines” 

“Train through it!”

“If astronauts are up in space doing all they do in their gear, you can process your op with utility gloves”

“If you feel like you may have touched anything with your infected gloves, you need to disinfect that surface” 

“Our brains want a pattern and a systematic process” 

“Don't let this be the last thing you hear about your op reprocessing, dive deeper!”

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 5: 

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing environmental infection control… one of Michelle’s favorite topics!

Episode Highlights: 

• What is environmental infection control 
• Op set up to encourage environmental infection control
• 1 step vs 2 step disinfecting processes 
• EPA registration number
• Barrier Wrapping and PPE

Quotes:

“Less is more in this situation” 

“We are healthcare settings, my hospital room doesn’t feel warm and fuzzy”

“It needs to be a minimum of a cleaning step in these processes, it needs to have a surfactant in that product” 

“We don’t know what the patients have … sometimes they don’t even know”

“You need to have hospital-grade disinfectants” 

“If it says 10 min … you better make sure that surface is wet for 10 min”

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 6: 

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing written record-keeping. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Commonly Requested Logs
• Hepatitis B Vaccination 
• Employee Medical Health Record 
• Digital vs. Written 
• Incident Reports and Log
• Helpful Resources 
• Compliance Health Officers

Quotes:

“Hepatitis B is the only vaccination required by law” 

“You have to have a training log whenever you do a OSHA training, this is a MUST” 

“The person doing the training has to be able to answer the questions”

“You should have standard operating procedures for most things in your office” 

“…because hello biofilm” 

“I go over there and I turn on the eyewash station… and brown water comes out, this is why you have to flush the water weekly” 

“OSHA has instructed the compliance health officers to acknowledge good faith efforts” 

“Saying that they have it in their head is not going to work for OSHA, you have to have it written and documented, nor will it work in a lawsuit” 

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 7: 

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing product selection! This is super important and not as straightforward as you may think!

Episode Highlights: 

• Products for Individual Team Members
• Products for Individual Ops/ Team Members 
• Safety of Products/ Product Selection 
• Who governs these products?
• What you need to know about labels

Quotes:

“Your product selection is going to be a very personal thing for your office, and your individual team members” 

“Equipment is expensive, we need to make sure we are taking care of it properly” 

“EPA is the only agency that will ARREST YOU” (yes, you read that correctly)

“You need to know your inactive ingredients, your active ingredients and you have to know your kill times” 

“You need to know if they are meant for cleaning, they need to have a surfactant to be used for cleaning surfaces”

“There is a difference between caution, warning and danger” 

“You can’t be jumping from product to product to product” 

“You really should be doing a cost and time analysis” 

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 8:

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing vaccination and other precautions you should take for your personal wellness and safety!

Episode Highlights: 

• The link between professional burnout and infection control
• Immunization recommendations 
• Operator Fatigue 
• Stay home if you are sick! 
• Ergonomics 

Quotes:

“If you are tired you increase the risks of hazards” 

“We are trying to stay on time and service everyone else but we forget about ourselves”

“When you think about what that does to the body over time, that is an issue” 

“You can’t have a functioning body without a functioning brain” 

“There is a percentage of people where the vaccine doesn’t work” 

“By coming to work sick you are creating an environment where you can get your patients sick, and your team sick” 

“You can take out a whole team so easily” 

“I get sick if I don't get enough sleep, and if I don’t do the activities that release stress… it builds up and surpasses my immune system” 

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com

Episode 9:

Today on Level Up Infection Prevention, Michelle Strange and India Chance are addressing dental unit waterlines! This is one of India and Michelle’s favorite topics! 

Episode Highlights: 

• Dental Unit Waterline Safety
• Lawsuits
• Municipal vs. self-contained water 
• Dead Leg
• Testing Logs

Quotes:

“People get the suction and waterline confused, with what you can use to disinfect” 

“A lot of states are looking to the case for guidance on their regulations to see how they are going to proceed” 

“It's not the municipal water that's bad, it's your lines” 

“If there is any possibility water can do through it you need to flush it and shock it. It's recommended you call the techs and have them cap it so you don’t have a dead leg” 

“If you have never tested you want to shock, and then you want to test” 

“If you fail three times in a row you should call a dental water lab” 

“You have to think about it as if you are the patient sitting in the chair at your practice” 

Resources and Links: 

OSHA: https://www.osha.gov

OSAP: https://www.osap.org 

Michelle Email: Michelle@ataleoftwohyienists.com 

India Email: info@learn2prevent.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com 

Learn to Prevent: https://www.learn2prevent.com