MD · Sterilization compliance
Maryland Dental Sterilization Compliance Requirements
A summary of Maryland's sterilization-monitoring rules for dental practices — the enforcing agency, the biological-monitoring cadence, and the primary citation.
Quick answer
- BI cadence
- Record retention
- Enforcement agency
- Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners
- Primary citation
- COMAR 10.44.36.02, .05A(2)(f)(i)
CDC guideline, made binding by state rule
No period stated in the reviewed rule
Biological monitoring (spore testing)
Maryland’s rule requires biological spore testing as part of sterilization monitoring in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, and separately incorporates the CDC’s 2003 guidelines by reference — which carries the weekly cadence. The rule requires adequate written records without stating a number of years.
Federal guidance applied in Maryland
CDC 2003 incorporated by reference (COMAR 10.44.36.02)
Even where state rules are silent on a specific point, the CDC's 2003 Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings are the most widely used professional reference. They are guidance rather than law unless a state's rule adopts them — many do by reference — and a board may treat departures from them as unprofessional conduct.
Records commonly kept on file
Whatever a state's stated minimum, these are the sterilization records dental practices commonly maintain:
- A weekly (or per-state-cadence) biological-indicator log with matching control results, lot numbers, and expiration dates
- A per-cycle log identifying sterilizer, operator, and chemical-indicator result
- Documented response to any positive spore test (recall procedure, retest result, root cause)
- Sterilizer maintenance and service records (preventive maintenance + repair)
- A list of staff authorized to operate sterilizers, with training completion dates
- A written infection-control plan referencing CDC 2003 guidelines
How Cuspo handles Maryland compliance
- Captures BI tests on the cadence that applies to your practice, with matching control results and lot tracking
- Auto-generates an audit-ready PDF of your sterilization records over any date range
- Triggers a documented remediation workflow on every positive spore test
- Maintains tamper-evident audit trail of who logged what and when