Infection Control: How Our Practice Protects You Against Infectious Diseases

Infection control and dentistry was in the news last month, but for all the wrong reasons! Unfortunately breaches of infection control procedures have put thousands of patients of a practice in Sydney at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis. This news has understandably made some people very concerned about the risks of catching something nasty at the dentist. It’s important to know that this isolated Sydney incident occurred because high quality infection control was not being utilised. Five dentists have since been suspended.

Here in our practice, we take infection control very seriously, and this article explains what we do to keep you safe.

Your health and safety is very important to us. We use the most modern sterilisation and infection control procedures to ensure the health of our patients. All our team members are well educated and up to date with current infection control standards. We can reassure our patients we go above and beyond what is required in this area.

These are the protocols we have in place to ensure your safety:

• We have strict guidelines specifically designed for infection control in our practice, which all staff are trained in and adhere to;
• We wash our hands before and after every patient’s treatment (this is probably one of the most important ways to stop the spread of infection in dental practices);
• We sterilise every single instrument that we use;
• We use disposable products where possible, we don’t cut costs (and safety) by reusing things;
• We place protective plastic barrier covers over our chair surfaces which are difficult to keep clean;
• All crucial instruments have a unique bar code that is scanned into the patient’s chart, this allows us to trace the history of the instrument sterilisation;
• We perform 2 tests on our steriliser every morning before it is used to ensure it is working properly and safe for you;
• All our chairs, steriliser and ultrasonic cleaners are well maintained and serviced and tested regularly;
• All staff have attained certificate qualifications, which include infection control;
• We are constantly attending courses to keep up to date with the latest sterilisation procedures;
• All the products we use have been TGA (Therapeutic Goods Australia) approved for the purpose they are being used for;
• We comply with the Australian Standards (AS NZS 4815) for the reprocessing of reusable medical and surgical instruments and equipment and the Dental Board of Australia’s regulations;
• We welcome any questions about our procedures and we are happy for you to tour our sterilising room to see how we keep everything clean.

These precautions minimise the risk of transmission of infection. If you have any questions or would like some further information please feel free to contact us on 4957 5957 or admin@debrabrowndental.com.au.