In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Mary Govoni, CDA, RDA, RDH OSHA Outreach Trainer, Speaker, Author, a compliance consultant who has spent decades helping dental practices close the gap between what they think they are doing and what their documentation actually shows.

Mary walks through what she finds in practice after practice: the workaround mindset that creates liability, the mask habits that never fully corrected after COVID, and the quiet moment when a team member leaves and takes the OSHA binder with them. She also shares one of dentistry’s most urgent public health alerts right now, the return of measles and a phenomenon called immune amnesia that can erase years of accumulated immunity.

This episode is for dental hygienists, dentists, dental assistants, and practice owners who want to move from compliance anxiety to a system that actually holds up when it needs to.

You’ll learn:

Why most dental offices are not as compliant as they think, and exactly where the gaps usually hide
The mask-in-the-pocket habit that is still happening in clinical settings and why it matters more than people realize
What immune amnesia is, why measles is back, and how dental teams need to respond right now
The difference between OSHA law and CDC guidance, and why guidance does not mean optional
Why documentation is the first thing OSHA inspectors look for, and what happens when it walks out the door with a departing team member
The new OSHA Hazard Communication Standard changes taking effect in November 2025 and what practices need to update through 2028
The Association for Dental Safety at myADS.org, one of the best resources in dentistry that almost nobody knows about
FX EFFEX at dental.effex.cloud, the centralized compliance platform Mary recommends for practices ready to ditch the binders

Subscribe to The Dental Handoff on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podbean. New episodes every week.

CONNECT WITH Mary Govoni, CDA, RDA, RDH OSHA Outreach Trainer, Speaker, Author:

Website: https://www.marygovoni.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-govoni-and-associates/

Services: OSHA Compliance and CDS Infection Prevention and Control, HIPAA Compliance and Cybersecurity, Ergonomics and Efficiency, Human Resources Manual Development (powered by Bent Ericksen and Associates)

Where to Find Dr. Kelly:

Let's Connect! Book a Call today to see how I can help you create high-performance teams, discuss educational programs, or how I can be of assistance.

https://calendly.com/drkellytanner/30min

Visit us at https://www.nextleveldentalhygiene.com