Infection Control
Behind the Scenes
A large part a dental practice is behind the scenes. It includes the disinfection of the room and the processing and sterilization of equipment that is used on you and your loved ones. Ensuring your safety is our absolute priority and we spare no expense on this.
What you may not realize is that while there are infection control guidelines and standards, there is no mandatory certification and there are no agencies doing routine auditing to ensure dental practices are meeting these standards. I hope you did not just spit your drink onto the computer screen as this will be a code red for cleanup!
6 Ways to Know if Your Practice is Up to Date with Infection Control Standards
Look around. If the environment is not being kept up to date, if it is messy, dusty, or even visibly dirty, it is good indication that infection control standards are not up to date.
If the team members have masks pulled beneath their noses or touching their face with gloved hands, or are wearing watches, rings, or have artificial nails, this is an indication that infection control training is not in place.
If instruments that are to be used in your mouth are stored in drawers without being individually wrapped in a sterilisation pouch, this is a BIG indication that your practice is not up to date.
If you are brought into a treatment room while a nurse is still cleaning, this is another indication that adequate time is not being allowed for thorough disinfection and preparation of the room.
We are the ONLY private dental practice on the Central Coast to have a thermal disinfector
If your practice is not disinfecting and sterilizing equipment properly this puts you and your family at risk for contracting infectious diseases.
Find out how we do more for you and your loved ones
- We have strict training protocols for all of our team members on infection control procedures. Training is provided both in-house and externally.
- Treatment rooms are cleaned using wipes heavily impregnated with hydrogen peroxide. This is a safe and effective disinfectant against infectious diseases including tuberculosis and HIV. We avoid the use of inexpensive sprays onto a dry cloth as this leaves large areas that are not treated with disinfectant.
- We are the ONLY private dental practice on the Central Coast to have a thermal disinfector. This is a high temperature medical grade dishwasher. In years to come it will become mandatory for all practices to have a thermal disinfector. This is an alternative to an ultrasonic bath. Ultrasonics are filled at the start of the day with water and cleaner and instruments are processed throughout the day. The same water used to clean bloody instruments is also used to clean all other instruments. Instruments are reliant on being manually rinsed and dried by hand to prepare for the autoclave. The Miele Thermal Disinfector is an automated system to effectively prepare instruments for sterilisation.
- We employ an external agency to provide annual audits to ensure we are meeting and exceeding infection control standards.
- We allocate additional time on our appointments allowing nurses the ability to thoroughly clean, disinfect, and prepare the treatment room.
If you would like a tour of our state-of-the-art practice and infectious control process, please call us on 02 43 677 677.
A dental surgery you can trust