The CDC’s Division of Oral Health has been gone since April 1, and dentists are lining up to do what they do best: fill the cavity left in its absence.
Dental care leaders previously told Healthcare Brew they hope private industry will supplement the CDC’s canceled work, and now it appears that’s happening.
The Association for Dental Safety (ADS), an international membership organization, announced Tuesday it’s starting a group called the ADS Institute for Dental Safety and Science to pick up where the CDC left off.
In the federal oral health division’s absence, the group wants to oversee industry guidelines for infection control in dental healthcare settings, according to a release. These guidelines cover everything from how to sterilize instruments to which PPE to wear. Though not inherently mandatory, some states have made these rules part of laws that govern dental professionals, Michelle Lee, who will serve as the institute’s executive director and currently serves as ADS executive director, told us.
“We stepped forward and said: There is no one to oversee this guidance now, and so we would like to step in,” Lee said.
The big picture. The last major update to these guidelines was in 2003, with several new recommendations published in a 2016 supplement. Lee said a CDC workgroup was drafting new guidance on dental unit waterlines in collaboration with organizations like ADS before its efforts were shut down, and the new group hopes to continue that work.
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“Guidelines don’t change all the time, but they do need to be tweaked. Things might need to be added,” Lee said.
Lee said she plans for the group to include an advisory panel of 10 healthcare professionals. She estimates the group will need about $2 million to cover its costs for three years, including administrative spending and hiring experts as paid staff, and is looking to private foundations for potential grant funding.
There are a number of other things the CDC’s division did that this new institute won’t do, though, she said. For instance, the division collected data and supported initiatives like free school sealant programs, according to the American Dental Association.
“I’m hopeful that others will step up. We’re taking the lead on this piece, and maybe it will encourage others,” Lee said.
If the CDC ever did take up this task again in the future, the organization “would welcome that,” Lee added.
Some in the federal government do not seem as enthusiastic about the effort, however.
“This self-appointed group is masquerading as oversight. This department will continue to be the statutory and regulatory authority guiding national industry standards for safe oral healthcare,” HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon told us in an email.