When a dental practice is shut down because of infection prevention and sterilization concerns, it is easy to look at the story and think:

“Someone didn't follow the rules.”

But having worked with dental practices and the people running them, I think there is a much bigger business lesson here.

A July 2026 CBC News report about a Brantford dental office highlights how quickly infection prevention and control issues can become much bigger than a clinical concern.

The investigation identified multiple lapses involving the disinfection and sterilization of reusable instruments. More than 800 former patients were subsequently encouraged to undergo testing for blood-borne infections.

The dentist has since resigned and is no longer entitled to practise in Ontario, while the regulatory investigation remains ongoing.

Read the full CBC News article →

Looking Beyond Responsibility

For me, the important question as a consultant isn't simply:

“Who was responsible?”

It is:

In the practices I work with, I encourage owners and managers to look beyond simply having policies on paper.

Questions Every Practice Should Ask

• Are sterilization and reprocessing protocols actually being followed every day?
• Does every team member understand why the process matters, rather than simply knowing the steps?
• Are responsibilities clearly assigned?
• Are training and competency being documented?
• Are audits actually happening?
• Does the practice have a mechanism for identifying and correcting problems before they become regulatory or patient safety issues?
• Does the owner know what is happening operationally when they aren't standing in the sterilization room?

That last question is particularly important.

A practice can have excellent clinicians and good intentions and still have significant operational vulnerabilities.

Leadership Means Building Reliable Systems

The role of leadership is to build a system where doing the right thing is clear, repeatable, monitored and supported.

This is one of the areas where I spend a lot of my consulting work with dental practices: helping owners step back from the day-to-day and examine the systems behind the business from operations and accountability to team structure, workflow, compliance and practice performance.

Because a practice shouldn't have to wait for a complaint, inspection or serious incident to discover that its systems aren't working.