Preventing infection

Preventing Cross-Infection

We have cross-infection policies in place to protect you. By this we mean that bacteria and viruses carried by others are not passed to you. Except those who are medically compromised, we all have very effective immune systems evolved over millions of years to help us survive in hostile conditions, and whatever we do, we have to accept that we rely on this to control everyday contamination, for example when you meet and shake hands with someone, or are in a crowded space with others.

When you have dental treatment the protective surfaces of your body may be breached, where, for example you have a tooth taken out, your teeth scaled or a tooth restored or root filled. These are not normal circumstances and your immune system hasn't evolved to deal specifically with these and so we are careful to avoid contamination. On the other hand some dental procedures, particularly examinations are no more invasive than using cutlery in a restaurant.

Infections passed during dental treatment are extremely rare and you can be reassured that the level of care taken is adequate to protect you.

What we do

Amongst other things we:

  • Wear new gloves for every patient, and even during treating a patient new gloves may be put on if there is some risk of contamination.
  • Use disposable items wherever possible such as mouthwash cups, burs, cotton wool rolls, root canal instruments, injection needles and anaestheic cartridges.

Where this is not possible

  • we use autoclavable instruments, which are sterilised between uses.
  • Have zones in the treatment area. The area around the dentist and patient including the spittoon are the cleanest, being thoroughly disinfected between patients, so that cross-contamination doesn't occur.
  • Contaminated materials are taken by or passed to the nurse, who disposes of them as clinical waste to be collected by licensed disposal firms for incineration, in the case of disposables, and re-usable equipment is taken to the sterilising room.
  • In the sterilising room the equipment is first washed and scrubbed to remove obvious debris, then checked under illuminated magnification, before being placed in an ultrasonic bath to remove invisible particles.
  • The equipment then goes through a sterilisation cycle in the autoclave conforming to all current guidelines. Items which are not for immediate re-use are placed into sterilisation pouches and re-sterilised before being placed in covered draws until use, or the expiry date reached when it is re-sterilised.