Developing and Implementing a Culture of Safety in the Dentoalveolar Surgical Practice

The health care industry and delivery systems are placing greater emphasis on making their organizations safe. They do this by cultivating a culture of safety to help anticipate and prevent injuries and documenting and investigating injuries to develop prevention protocols. Many of the strategies used in the hospital industry can be applied to the dentoalveolar surgery practice of oral-maxillofacial surgeons and other dentists. This article discusses the development of a culture of safety in the dentoalveolar practice and gives ideas of how threats of injuries to patients, guests, and the surgical care team can be reduced or eliminated.