Roger Reed, RDH "Are you going to throw those instruments away when you are done with them?"
"Do you use brand new tools every time you see another patient?"
"How do you clean your instruments when you are finished with them?"
These are just a few of the questions that we hear at MCHD Dentistry on a regular basis. It is understandable that our patients have concerns about how we maintain and sterilize our instruments and equipment.
Recently we reviewed our sterilization practices, which are based on OSHA recommendations, to see what we were doing well, but also to see if we were deficient in any areas. We implemented an office-wide Sterilization Protocol that all current and future employees of MCHD Dentistry are trained and instructed to follow. Employees are educated on how to thoroughly and safely prepare dental operatories, equipment, and instruments for patient treatment. After thoroughly removing debris using an ultrasonic cleaner, all of our non-disposable instruments are heat sterilized in a device called an autoclave. This machine destroys any microorganisms that are present on our dental instruments rendering them safe to be used on future patients. We test our autoclave once per week to make sure that it is killing all bacteria and viruses by doing what is called a "spore test".
Our Sterilization Protocol is very important to us. We will continue to use the latest techniques and technology to ensure that our sterilization practices are always current with the latest recommendations. We want our patients to know that we care about their dental health, and will continue to provide quality care with patient safety in mind. It is understandable that this can make some people nervous, especially with all of the communicable diseases we hear about on a daily basis. The next time you are in, feel free to ask any of us any question you may have about our sterilization procedures.
"Do you use brand new tools every time you see another patient?"
"How do you clean your instruments when you are finished with them?"
These are just a few of the questions that we hear at MCHD Dentistry on a regular basis. It is understandable that our patients have concerns about how we maintain and sterilize our instruments and equipment.
Recently we reviewed our sterilization practices, which are based on OSHA recommendations, to see what we were doing well, but also to see if we were deficient in any areas. We implemented an office-wide Sterilization Protocol that all current and future employees of MCHD Dentistry are trained and instructed to follow. Employees are educated on how to thoroughly and safely prepare dental operatories, equipment, and instruments for patient treatment. After thoroughly removing debris using an ultrasonic cleaner, all of our non-disposable instruments are heat sterilized in a device called an autoclave. This machine destroys any microorganisms that are present on our dental instruments rendering them safe to be used on future patients. We test our autoclave once per week to make sure that it is killing all bacteria and viruses by doing what is called a "spore test".
Our Sterilization Protocol is very important to us. We will continue to use the latest techniques and technology to ensure that our sterilization practices are always current with the latest recommendations. We want our patients to know that we care about their dental health, and will continue to provide quality care with patient safety in mind. It is understandable that this can make some people nervous, especially with all of the communicable diseases we hear about on a daily basis. The next time you are in, feel free to ask any of us any question you may have about our sterilization procedures.
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