Online Dental CE

What if the water flowing through your dental unit isn’t as clean as you think—and how would you even know? We trust that if incoming water meets municipal standards, we’re safe. But inside those narrow dental unit waterlines, biofilm can build and bacteria can rise unnoticed. So what does that actually mean for your patients? Are we talking about minor contamination—or something more serious? Could poorly maintained waterlines contribute to infections like infective endocarditis in at-risk patients? What about respiratory illnesses like Legionnaires’ disease, or exposure to organisms like Mycobacterium abscessus linked to dental outbreaks? These aren’t theoretical—they’re real risks. In this episode, we tackle a critical question: do you have a reliable waterline protocol? We’ll cover why testing is the first step, how shock treatments work for both remediation and prevention, and how to build a simple workflow that keeps your water safe and documentation easy. Because every patient is exposed to that water—are you confident it meets the highest standard? I’m joined by Michelle Strange, a dental hygienist, educator, and founder of MichelleStrangeRDH and Level Up Infection Prevention, helping practices implement practical, real-world infection control strategies.