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Handling unhappy patients can be an unfortunate reality of practice ownership. On the rare occasion anger escalates to aggression, be mindful of your obligation to provide a safe working environment for your employees. Follow guidance for safe and appropriate de-escalation tactics.

Questions arise regarding if and when dentists should consider dismissing patients. Recent calls to TDIC’s Advice Line showcase the unique complexities of dismissing patients prior to completion of treatment.

Patient safety remains a top priority for practice owners and dental teams; however, the dental office can often be a fast-paced working environment with distractions that can impede best safety practices. To better prevent mishaps, the Joint Commission requires accredited dental practices to implement a timeout before all surgical procedures.

CDA Practice Support has developed the California State Reopening Guide for Dental Practices to help dentists and dental teams understand their responsibilities to maintain a safe environment and communicate with patients about continued COVID-19 safety precautions in the dental office.

Some dentists are unclear about whether to maintain face covering and social distancing requirements in the dental office following the CDC's updated mask guidance for fully vaccinated people. Cal/OSHA has not yet updated its COVID-19 prevention guidance for dental offices. Protocols for masks and social distancing are still required. 

The American Dental Association has released a COVID-19 & Lab Testing Requirements Toolkit to aid dentists who are interested in incorporating rapid point-of-care testing in their practice. To assist members with California-specific requirements, CDA’s Clinical Care Workgroup will release additional POC testing guidance next month.

Dental teams should consider what steps to take if a patient refuses to comply with the practice's increased safety precautions. These recommendations can help practice owners and their teams prepare for difficult conversations and effectively de-escalate tension with uncooperative patients.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that revises language in the written informed consent form that dentists must provide to patients prior to administering general anesthesia and deep or moderate sedation. Although the new law does not impact the practice of dentistry, dentists should ensure that beginning Jan. 1, 2020, they are using a consent form that is compliant with the new law.

A dentist who writes controlled substance prescriptions can now review CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System) for patients for whom the dentist is listed as a prescriber. This ability to review the list is useful when a dentist has misplaced a prescription pad or has had a prescription pad stolen or when a dentist suspects someone is misusing their DEA number.