Sterilisation Policy and Procedures

We attach the upmost importance to infection control. We have a dedicated sterilisation room equipped with three autoclaves, ultrasonic instrument cleaning bath, handpiece processing unit and instrument tray sealing equipment. Our sterilisation room is managed by Elaine Lawrence who is a hospital trained sterilisation technician with 17 years experience. Our autoclaves are maintained on a service contract and serviced every 4 months. Our nurses carry out a "time, steam and temperature" check every morning and afternoon and the results of these tests are recorded for reference. Patients are welcome to visit our sterilisation room

INSTRUMENTS We use an instrument "tray system" in our practice and each patient has a fresh, sterile tray of instruments. After use, all instruments are washed and then sterilised in a steam autoclave. Each tray of sterile instruments is hermetically sealed until they are next required. To ensure that we are never short, we have 12 complete sets of instruments for each surgery. DRILLS We have invested considerably to ensure that we can guarantee a fresh sterile handpiece ( Dentist's drill ) for every patient. We have a total of 60 handpieces in all. Whatever type is required, high speed, slow speed or hygienist's polishing handpiece, we are never short. After use, all handpieces are cleaned externally and internally using the latest W&H Assistina handpiece machine. They are sterilised in a steam autoclave. In addition, every treatment tray has it's own cassette of sterile burs (drill tips). ROOT CANAL FILES The Department of Health issued recommendations in 2007 that root canal files should not be reused to eliminate the theoretical risk of transfer of CJD prions from one patient to another. We are the only country in the world to adopt this standard. In France for instance, root canal instruments are discarded after use, only when the patient is a known CJD sufferer. Our patients can be assured that a fresh set of root canal files is used for each patient and discarded after use. We are happy to comply, not just to ensure that you are not at risk of contracting a CJD prion, but because this is the Gold standard and reduces the incidence of complications due to files breaking during use. SUCTION TIPS We only use items which are either autoclavable or disposable. If it can't be autoclaved, it is discarded after use. We mostly use disposable plastic suction tips. Some non disposable suction tubes are always cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning bath before being autoclaved. WATER For your safety and peace of mind, the water supply to each of our dental equipment sets is supplied through a National Safety Associates of America ( N.S.A.) water treatment unit and our Siemens equipment is fitted with non retraction systems. COMPRESSED AIR We have a specialized medical compressor ( Durr - Germany ) to supply the compressed air to our drills. Our air supply is oil free, de-humidified and triple filtered. We guarantee that it is "of breathing quality".