Jenn’s Vision for Eye Protection Best Practices

Despite the warnings of what can or might go wrong when receiving medical and dental care, most of us don’t really think anything bad will happen to us, until it does. This was the case for a young woman in July 2013 who was having a routine dental procedure. The dentist failed to follow Best Practices and dropped a needle into her eye, blinding her.

The first critical mistake was that he did not offer her eye protection. When the dentist numbed her for the procedure, he passed the syringe over her face, rather than her chest, without recapping the needle first. The needle with streptococcus bacteria punctured her eye, injecting the bacteria. The dentist also did not follow the protocol for an eye injury in the dental setting which is to clean the eye at an eye wash station. The next day the pain sent her to the emergency room. Over the next week, Jenn had multiple surgeries for biopsy, infection removal, and finally, the removal of her lens. Because of the vision loss, she had to leave work, and it has caused a great amount of stress and discomfort for her and her husband and children.

This could and should have been prevented. Safety glasses have been recommended and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Fortunately for us, Jenn decided to turn her “Mess into a Mission.” She created a non-profit called Jenn’s Vision to educate the public and professionals on the need for eye protection during dental work.

TMC supports Jenn’s Vision (https://www.facebook.com/JennsVision/) and the 5^th Annual Worldwide Day of Eye Protection Awareness coming up on Sunday, July 8, 2018. Please take part in this day of awareness and spread the word. It’s easy to do. Just put on sunglasses or eye protection and take a picture or selfie; then share it on your social media pages with the hashtag #JennsVision.