Week 7 Waste Management

Question 1

Types of Waste in Dental Offices

Answer 1

1. Regulated medical waste
2. Nonregulated medical waste

Question 2

REGULATED WASTE according to OSHA

Answer 2

1. LIQUID OR SEMILIQUID
   • Liquid blood or saliva
2. CONTAMINATED ITEMS THAT WOULD RELEASE BLOOD or OPIM in a liguid or semiliquid state
   • 2X2s or cotton rolls saturated with blood or saliva
3. Items that are caked with dried blood or OPIM (other potentially infectious material).
   • 2X2s, cotton rolls saturated with blood or saliva
4. Contaminated sharps
   • needles, scalpels, ortho wire, broken instruments, burs
5. Pathological or microbial waste containing blood or
   OPIM

Question 3

Types of Waste

Answer 3

Medical waste:
• materials generated during patient diagnosis, treatment, or immunization in medical, dental, or other health care facilities.
Infectious waste:
• is a small subset (about 3% of the total) of medical waste that has shown a capability of transmitting an infectious disease.
• also called regulated medical waste
• waste that requires special care.

Question 4

Definitions of Waste (Table 18.1)

Answer 4

Contaminated Waste
• items that have been in contact with blood or other body secretions
Hazardous Waste
• poses a risk to humans or the environment
Infectious Waste; causes infectious disease
Medical waste
• solid waste generated in the diagnosis, trmt, or immunization of humans or animals
Regulated medical waste
• infectious medical waste that requires special handling, neutralization and disposal
Toxic Waste: has a poisonous effect

Question 5

Infectious Waste
Management

Answer 5

• Only a limited amount of medical waste needs to be regulated.
• Key factor is the presence of blood or other potentially infectious material
(OPIM) in the waste.
• Regulated waste in dental offices include:
• contaminated sharps, extracted teeth, and 2x2s or cotton rolls soaked or saturated with blood or saliva.
• In Dentistry, OPIM is mainly SALIVA

Question 6

Pathogenic Waste (Teeth and Other Tissues)

Answer 6

Potentially infectious pathology waste, and thus their disposal is regulated.
Color-coded and labeled containers that prevent leakage (e.g., biohazard bag) should be used to contain nonsharp regulated medical waste.
Extracted teeth can be placed in sharps containers.

Question 7

Amalgam waste

Answer 7

• Use a variety of precapsulated alloy; recycle used disposable amalgam capsules
• Amalgam is to be recycled, as much as possible
• When handling, use universal precautions.
• Do not rinse amalgam over a drain or sink
• Recycle teeth with amalgam restorations; do not discard in biohazard, infectious waste or sharp containers
• Amalgam should be in a separate covered plastic labeled container.
• Use line cleaners with pH between 6-8; do not flush amalgam waste down the drain or toilet
• Do not use acids or bleach to flush the lines
• Contact an offsite recycling company to be disposed of.

Question 8

Lead Disposal

Answer 8

Lead
• Considered a hazardous waste
• Not to be thrown in the trash or flushed down the sinks.
• To be recycled.
• Some recycling companies will accept lead waste.

Question 9

Disposal of Silver

Answer 9

Silver
• Fixer solution, used to develop X-Rays, is a hazardous material that should not be simply rinsed down the drain.
• After desilvering the fixer with recovery unit, it can be mixed with developer and water and disposed down the sewer or septic system

Question 10

Disposal of Chemicals

Answer 10