Nine Step Sterilization Protocol at AMD Dental Clinic
Many dental practices today face a grave challenge to steadfastly maintain enhanced productivity while ensuring patient safety, but we successfully at AMD Dental Clinic have developed more reliable processes. This is one of the primary reasons that typically makes AMD Dental Clinic the Best Dental Clinic in Jaipur. We properly understand effective and efficient infection control in a dental practice is essential for our patient’s paramount safety. Our instruments typically go through all the guidelines prescribed by ADA and CDC for sterilizing starting from pre-soaking, cleaning, corrosion control, sterilization, handling sterile instruments, and their storage. AMD Dental Clinic recognizes the mutual trust you are placing in us when you visit us, and in no possible way do we want to disappoint you. We typically follow nine key steps of sterilization to ensure your ultimate safety.
Step 1: Disposal of single-use items
The removal and proper disposal of single-use sharps like needles, blades, orthodontic wires, and glass are done at the point of use, typically in the dental treatment room. The disposal materials like sensor cover, suction tube, etc. are discarded.
Step 2: Processing room
All the instruments are promptly recovered from the operating area after spraying disinfectant on them. The dental assistant is eminently qualified in the safe handling of contaminated instruments. The instruments are carefully moved to a designated area for instruments reprocessing that is separate from the dental treatment room. This is ideal since cleaning, sterilizing, and storing instruments in the same room where the delivery of patient care is provided might increase the risk of cross-contamination for our patients and we cannot let that happen at any cost making us your Best Dental Hospital.
Step 3: Instrument assortment for sterilization
The instruments are carefully sorted as per the nature of sterilization traditionally required.
Step 4: Ultrasonic cleaner to the rescue
All the reusable instruments are placed under running water and then placed in an ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonic cleaner helps in the successful removal of major microflora. The operational efficiency of ultrasonic cleaners is way better than hand scrubbing. AMD Dental Clinic believes in providing best to you. However, a few appliances typically need hand scrubbing.
Step 5: Drying and packaging
Carefully drying the instruments and packaging the instruments in disposable warp and plastic-paper pouches is the fifth step. The pouches are uniquely designed to allow penetration of heat, steam, or vapor. All the instruments are properly sealed in these pouches using a sealing machine.
Step 6: Sterilization
The instruments are traditionally placed in a steam autoclave to be sterilized in high heat and pressure conditions. The specific combination of pressurization of the chamber, steam, and an elevated temperature for a prolonged period under steam autoclaves has the ability to promptly kill virtually all microorganisms. We use steam autoclaves in our practice as it realistically is the most rapid and effective method for sterilizing.
- Critical instruments like implant drills, forceps, etc. are steam sterilized as they penetrate the mucosa and bone of the patient. Sterilization is typically achieved by steam under pressure (autoclaving), dry heat, or heat/chemical vapor.
- Semi critical instruments like diagnostic instruments, impression trays, etc. contact the mucosa of the patient but do not penetrate it. However, steam sterilization is undoubtedly required for such instruments.
- Non critical instruments like X-ray heads, dental chair, etc. are properly cleaned with chemical disinfectants.
- Safe Med Glass bead sterilizer
A glass bead sterilizer represents an instrument that sanitizes small, solid, metal, and glass lab equipment in ten seconds by rapidly heating glass beads. With a deep heating chamber and a stainless-steel inner core, our Safe Med Glass bead sterilizer heats dry, clean glass beads (with an effective diameter from 1.5 to 2.0 mm) to about 300 °C. Glass beads progressively eliminate the need for an open flame and instantly destroy fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
A best choice of sterilization equipments makes us the Safest Dental Hospital.
Step 7: Cooling the instruments
Once sterilization is over, instruments are typically allowed to cool down to room temperature.
Step 8: Storage in UV Chamber
The sterilized instruments are then stored in a Safe Med UV Chamber, till a specific requirement arises. The ultraviolet rays in the UV chamber accurately represent an effective method for killing microbes without traditionally requiring chemicals or heat. When infectious microorganisms are intentionally exposed to UV rays at a particular wavelength (200-280 nm), their reproduction capability is instantly destroyed and inactivation undoubtedly occurs at a more accelerated rate so that they no longer pose a threat to humans.This powerfully aids us to keep our patients and staff from the potential threat of cross-infection.
Step 9: Gas fumigation for the clinic
Gas fumigation for the entire clinic is efficiently performed every day for the successful removal of harmful microorganisms. It saturates an area with gaseous fumigants like formaldehyde to promptly kill bacterias, viruses, and even their spores. This aids us to keep our patients free from any possible infections.
Certain other fundamental changes that we have implemented while patient treatment
- The patient is provided with a Chlorhexidine mouthwash and asked to swish it in the mouth for 30 seconds. This helps in appreciably reducing the microflora, thereby increasing treatment safety.
- Dr. Mili Gupta sincerely appreciate the value of safety hence, proper use of a head cap, shoe covers, N95 mouth masks (double mask), and coveralls are worn on meeting any patient or other personnel.
- Before donning gloves, washing hands undoubtedly remain a mandatory practice at AMD Dental Clinic. After the specific procedure, the gloves are discarded, and hands are washed again with a smooth lather of soap.
- Hand sanitizer (70% isopropyl alcohol) is available in every room in AMD Dental Clinic.
Such rigorous procedures for sterilization graciously assist us in infection control to instil unshakable confidence and in generously providing a wholesome environment for both our dear patients and dedicated staff.
