Managing infection control, hazards communication, and infectious waste disposal.

Dentistry entered a new era in the 1980s when the development of the AIDS crisis targeted dental facilities as one source of potential cross-infection with pathogenic microorganisms. As governmental agencies "discovered" dentistry, regulations forced practitioners to assume duties not previously required. Also, substantial costs of compliance became a significant consideration to employers. Managing the compliance and cost considerations of governmental regulation requires dedicating personnel, preferably one person, to the management of infection control, hazards communication, and infectious waste disposal tasks. predictably, this person--the safety supervisor--will develop into the new auxiliary specialist of the 1990s.