Boil-Water Advisories still ON!

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Boil-Water Advisories

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Sunday, November 18, 2001 9:18 PM

Boil-Water Advisories still ON!

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/oh/ic-fs-boilwater.htm

 

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Oral Health Resources

Infection Control Fact Sheet

Suggested Procedures for Dental Offices During Boil-Water Advisories

The Division of Oral Health, which is part of the National Center for

Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC), suggests that the following procedures may be

appropriate for dental offices during boil-water advisories. These

procedures should be observed in addition to specific instructions issued by

state or local health departments during these advisories.

While a boil-water advisory is in effect:

Water from the public water system should not be delivered to the patient

through the dental unit*, ultrasonic scaler, or other dental equipment that

uses the public water system until the boil-water advisory is canceled.

 

Patients should not use water from the public water system for rinsing but

should use water from alternative sources, such as bottled or distilled

water.

 

Dental workers should not use water from the public water supply for hand

washing. Instead, antimicrobial-containing products that do not require

water for use, such as alcohol-based hand rubs, can be used until the

boil-water notice is canceled. These products have been reviewed and cleared

for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

When the boil-water advisory is canceled:

First, incoming public water system water lines in the dental office should

be flushed (i.e., cleared of contaminated water). All faucets in the dental

setting should be turned on completely for at least 30 minutes, including

water lines to dental equipment that uses the public water system.

 

After the incoming public water system water lines are flushed, dental unit

water lines should be disinfected. The dental unit manufacturer should be

consulted to determine the appropriate procedures to disinfect the dental

unit water lines.

Because water from the affected public system should not be delivered to the

patient during a boil-water advisory, many dental procedures cannot be

performed. Alternative water sources, such as separate water reservoirs that

have been cleared for marketing by the FDA, can be used. However, if the

alternative water source were to flow through a dental unit previously

connected to the affected public water supply, the dental unit water lines

should first be flushed and disinfected according to the manufacturer's

instructions.

 

* " Dental unit " refers to the medical device at each dental chair that

provides water and compressed air for use during dental procedures.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Division of Oral Health