¶ … Washing Procedures in a Dental Office One of the challenges of teaching a lesson plan founded upon "Standard D2.1: Know how to evaluate potential causes and methods of transmitting infections and how to apply standard precautionary guidelines" according to CTE Standards: California Career and Technical Education Standards (232) is that the lesson plan must simultaneously be informative yet also teach critical skills to students. It must balance the need to convey practical information but not solely consist of lectures: a purely academic understanding of the topic will not necessarily affect student behaviors in the field. To impress upon students the importance of proper hygiene, I would first give an overview of healthcare-related infections to students. I would show photographs of what infections look like, both on the human body and also in microbial form. This would be a profound visual stimulus to students about the consequences that infections can render. I would also discuss the specific importance of hand-washing in a dental office and discuss various periodontal issues which can arise as a result of sloppy hygiene.

The lesson would be interactive and as well as showing photographs, I would...

Personal stories about observed problems with hygiene would highlight the 'need' for the activities detailed in the lesson. If time allowed, a short quiz (either group or individuals) would be given so students could identify the different presentation of illnesses associated with poor hygiene.
Next, the lesson plan would cover preventative strategies. A brief history lesson would be given to explain how guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had evolved since the 1990s. Students would go over the basics of appropriate hand-washing as detailed in the Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care (DePaola 2012). Handouts would be disseminated so all students would have a personal reference sheet for these best practices during class and after the class had terminated. I would discuss the importance of the perception of the dental profession, and the need to project to patients (who often experience anxiety about dental procedures) an image of safety and health. If necessary, I would give a brief overview of the history of…