ADA Mumbo Jumbo

T. C. Webber

Luxor

Palo Alto, CA

To the Editor:

Your dynamic display of the mumbo jumbo surface viewpoint of the ADA president against the NIDR survey of 1226 dentists (“Dentists, Clean Thyselves.” CleanRooms, Feb. 1996, p. 6) again confirms my conclusions of my 30-year review of dental science publications. Dentistry may be unified some day by OSHA, EPA, NIH, CDC and ADA, but this governmental package is a scramble of players that seldom get to play in the real game on the field. Lawyers are now the acting referees, and without a rule book–but their penalties are activators.

I don`t see the costs of applying dental controls by transferring and adapting from biotechs, cleanrooms, pharmaceuticals and other associated industries to be high–when taken one step at a time to protect the health of the profession, their staff and their patients.

In another matter, one of my endeavors to shove more fish into the pool has been to plant a wake-up seed in the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). This year, it started to sprout through a forum entitled “Should the ASHRAE Handbook Suggest Special Consideration for Dental Treatment Areas?” held during its annual meeting Feb. 16-21 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. This society is a 100-year-old organization now with more than 50,000 members who have a high interest in indoor air quality contamination under sick building syndrome, building-related illnesses and multiple chemical sensitivities. The dental subject is being scheduled for their coming meetings this and next year.