Introduction

Dental professionals may be at risk for exposure to numerous workplace hazards. These hazards include, but are not limited to, the spectrum of bloodborne pathogens, pharmaceuticals and other chemical agents, human factors, ergonomic hazards, noise, vibration, and workplace violence.

There are currently no specific Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standards for dentistry. However, exposure to numerous biological, chemical, environmental, physical, and psychological workplace hazards that may apply to dentistry are addressed in specific standards for the general industry.

This course is designed to help provide a solid foundation for employees working in dental offices. It will look at the potential health risks of working in a dental setting and ways you, as an employee, can protect yourself and other co-workers from potential health problems. The course will also discuss ways to properly clean and sanitize common machinery in a dental laboratory.

Course Objectives

This course will focus on each of these topics from the employee's perspective. The course will also explain the employer's responsibilities. By the end of this course you should be able to:

1. list potential health hazards
2. explain how to control silica exposure
3. describe engineering controls
4. describe work practices
5. discuss ways to reduce radiation exposure
6. explain the use of gloves and other protective equipment
7. describe ways to protect against bloodborne pathogens
8. describe how to disinfect and sterilize dental office machinery
9. describe how to clean tools and equipment

Getting Started

To begin your online training, click on the "Modules" tab above. To study offline, go to your student dashboard and download the course study guide. The study guide is for your personal use only, and cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Modules

To begin your training, click on the module links below. If you are just starting this course, you should start with module 1.

1. Understanding Dental Office Health Risks
2. Cleaning and Worker Protection

Course 608 Final Exam

After studying the course material and answering the quiz questions, it is time to take the final exam. We highly recommend answering the module quiz questions to check your understanding of the course material. The final exam questions are typically developed from these quiz questions.

OSHAcademy course final exams are designed to make sure students have gained a sufficient understanding of the content covered within each course. To help demonstrate this understanding, students must achieve a passing score on course final exams. It is OSHAcademy's policy to protect the integrity of our exams: as a result, we do not provide missed questions to students.

This is an open book exam. Students are permitted to use a separate browser window to review course content while taking the exam. If you do not pass a final exam, you will see a "Retake Exam" button next to the course on your student dashboard.

If you have already paid for your certificate

If you have already paid for certificates, your exam score will be displayed on your student dashboard after successfully passing the final exam. If you chose PDF certificates, you can view and print your certificate and personal transcript from your student dashboard. If you chose original printed documents, they will be prepared and mailed to the address in your student account.

If you only want free training

OSHAcademy provides free access to all training materials, including course modules, practice quizzes, exercises, and final exams. However, exam scores, certificates, and transcripts are provided only if you purchase a certificate package to document your training. If you do not require official training documentation, we will archive your exam results should you decide to purchase official certificates later.

Take the Final Exam

Please login to your student dashboard to access and download this FREE course PDF studyguide. You can save this study guide to your computer for offline studying, or print the study guide if you prefer.

Additional Resources

• American Dental Association
• State of New Jersey Department of Health
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Website