In this episode of the Level Up Infection Prevention Podcast, our guest is Debra Dencek. She is the Founder and CEO of CordEze, a registered dental hygienist, and a certified ergonomic assessment specialist. Dencek graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, and she continues to work clinically while promoting ergonomics in dentistry. Today, she talks with us about CordEze and why it is an essential tool that every dental practitioner should have.

Deb’s Backstory

[1:43]

Deb morphed into this business owner, inventor, salesperson, and marketing person. She had to learn many hard lessons throughout her life, and many of them were very expensive lessons. After graduating, she would always recommend to other students to do temping at least for a short time because it can give you a quick lesson on adapting to each environment you go into.

Creating CordEze

[2:27]

Deb loves ultrasonic scaling. When she was still learning about it, she had to learn a lot of instrumentation. The reason she loved it is because it was easier on the body. But the issue was that the cord was always getting in her way. The cord issue became a drag. This led Deb to start and create CordEze, which helps practitioners become more efficient. You can readjust your hand or adjust the cord and then go back into the same spot you were originally in.

[4:04]

For Deb, there’s a difference between having a thought and having a vision or something that comes to you through the universe. That is where she gives grace because when she has a problem, the solution just comes through her. The next step was to take her idea and make it into something and bring it into the world. She then started making prototypes of wristbands until she finally got to CordEze.

Giving Ourselves Grace

[6:03]

Deb says that it’s important to give ourselves grace, learn something new, and implement something that we think will be helpful. It takes a minute for others to get used to doing something other than what they were taught in school. Maybe they need a referral from somebody that they trust. Then there are other people who just simply are hardcore at doing the things they did. Even if it hurts them in the long run, they continue to do the same thing.

Effectiveness of CordEze

[13:25]

A study done at the University of California put sensors on hygienists’ hands and forearms. They tested for the weight and the muscle workload with and without CordEze. The sensors were put on for muscle groups, and the combined muscle fatigue was reduced by 60% using CordEze. The cord pullback force was eliminated. Without CordEze, it measured 2.3 Newton. So it was 60 percent fewer non-functional grip adjustments. This equates to healthier employees and improved risk management, and you do not have to pay for people who take time off of work. Or, if they’re working through pain, they may or may not be as effective at their job.

Efficiency of CordEze

[17:15]

With anything, we can do to make ourselves more efficient, even if it’s using CordEze and being more efficient with our power instrumentation, know that every second saves time. You are making people happy at the end of the day. So with CordEze, it allows you to go quicker and become more efficient. It’s not that you’re doing a worse job. You’re just being efficient with that tool and using it the way it’s designed.

Using CordEze

[19:27]

In the Six Sense of Ergonomic, it is important to balance ourselves with proper positioning and make sure that we’re safe and our foundation is supported to work around a patient. Using CordEze, Deb found with HVE that everything goes out of the window because you have a hose to pivot. With the low volume, you follow the ultrasonic scaler’s tip a little more. You’re not able to do that as much, even if you have a lighter hose or a mirrored hose.

[23:24]

CordEze is an engineering control tool. People in dentistry all migrate to the PPE as the gold standard, and that’s the least effective safety measure you can have. But with CordEze, it is a necessary tool. Even though it is simple by design, we can’t afford any extra time to mess with things. So comfort was also the main focus of the tool. It had to be something that people could go in and out of very quickly.

CordEze Maintenance

[25:31]

With CordEze, you can wipe it down with an intermediate-level disinfectant. All of CordEze adapters and wristbands are autoclavable. So you can bag them and sterilize them in between patients. If you have a long enough glove to cover your wrist, you can glove over the CordEze wristband and put the cord on top of the glove. The smaller cords add an element of friction, too, so if your cord is little, it holds nicely.

[27:53]

Make sure that if you’re going to bag things together, the temperature doesn’t vary within that. So if you have metal touching something, test the limit. Just read the manufacturer on the autoclave because many of them are different in terms of time, temperature, and pressure. Keep everything as new as possible you can. Remember that, CordEze should last a long time with good care and attention.

Learn more about CordEze and Deb Dencek at:

Website: https://cordeze.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cordeze/