Dentists from the Hualien-based Tzu Chi General Hospital (TCGH) gave oral examinations to more than 600 seventh graders at Guo-Feng Junior High School in Hualien County on Monday and Tuesday last week after classes were canceled for an entire week due to reported cases of enterovirus. During the examinations, the school discovered that the dentists were not changing their dental gloves between examinations and became worried about the spread of viruses. The dentists insisted that there was no risk of infection and refused to change their gloves, even after the school had asked them to.
A TCGH spokesperson said that the dentists had not been negligent in the matter, but that there had been some miscommunication with the school, adding that they would not be punishing the doctors. The Hualien County Health Bureau says that the standards for changing dental gloves differ from place to place. In Taipei and New Taipei City, doctors are allowed to make their own call in determining whether gloves need to be changed. In Greater Taichung, the forms filled out by patients at doctors’ offices tell whether the gloves have to be changed, while in Hsinchu and Hualien, the regulations established by the local dentist associations stipulate that gloves do not need to be changed unless a dentist touches a patient’s lips directly.
Officials from the Hualien Department of Education said that the local dentist association and the school were able to reach an agreement that respects the professional integrity of the hospital. The agreement says the gloves do not need to be changed unless the lips are touched directly, a method which is meant to save time, not money.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者林欣漢
Huang Chih-hau, one of the dentists from TCGH who was examining the students, says that when dentists do oral examinations on children they hold a long mouth mirror and a dental explorer to check for cavities and to check the patient’s bite. Dentists automatically switch to clean instruments after completing each exam, but because their hands do not typically touch the inside of the mouth or any bodily fluids, it is not necessary to change gloves for every patient, he says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
兩週前才通報腸病毒並停課一星期的花蓮國風國中,上週一二兩天由花蓮慈濟醫院為七年級學生六百多名健檢。校方發現牙醫師在進行口腔檢查時,並非檢查一個學生就換一次手套,憂心發生群聚感染,請醫師配合,但對方堅稱不會感染而拒絕更換。
慈濟醫院人員表示,牙醫師在專業上沒有疏失,只是與校方在溝通上有誤會,不會對醫師做出任何懲處。花蓮縣衛生局表示,全台各地對是否更換手套標準不一:台北市、新北市是尊重醫師專業判斷,由醫師自己裁量;台中市是醫病兩方依合約內容,決定是否更換;新竹、花蓮則是根據牙醫師公會規範,不一定每次都要更換,但碰到口唇一定要換。
花蓮縣政府教育處官員說,尊重醫院專業考量,已與牙醫師公會及校方達成共識,檢查時若未碰觸口唇,就不需換手套,這樣做法是為節省時間,而非節省經費。
為學生口腔檢查的慈濟醫院牙醫師黃志浩說,牙醫師在做兒童口腔健康檢查時,雙手持長柄的口鏡、探針檢查學生是否有蛀牙,以及牙齒咬合度等項目,檢查完畢立即更換乾淨的器械,因雙手不會碰觸到口腔內黏膜、體液,不一定每次都要更換手套。
(自由時報記者林欣漢)
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