At Springside dental practice we have procedures in place to ensure that our patients, visitors and staff are safe from hazards and infections. All dental practices are bound to comply with the Dept of Health’s memorandum 01-05 which we do thanks largely to our investment in new vacuum autoclaves and a washer/disinfector. These have been installed in a custom fitted decontamination room. Immediately following use, instruments begin their journey through the cycle of decontamination, emerging several hours later in sealed bags ready to be used again when required. This happens to every single instrument; those that cannot be sterilized are disposed of, again in accordance with carefully regulated procedures.
The official guidance can be found on the web at the Department of Health, and look for the publication HTM 01-05: Decontamination in dental practice.
In order to ensure that our procedures are up-to-date and sufficiently stringent at all times, we have a practice protocol which can be viewed on request.
Whilst the crucial nature of the high-tech decontamination equipment is beyond doubt, the single most important way to prevent the spread of germs is hand hygiene.
At Springside, all clinical staff wear gloves in the surgeries, which are changed in between each patient. Prior to putting the gloves on at the beginning of the day nothing substitutes for thorough washing with soap, which is then followed by decontamination with alcohol gels. Each clinical staff member has alcohol gel immediately available to use before retrieving new instruments from drawers, operating the computer, after opening a window etc. We stock latex free gloves for those who need them. Unfortunately gloves and gels are not available with pleasant flavours but can be ordered in fetching colours.