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 fully trained and completed 17 years as a hospital sterilising department technician before joining us in 2005. Our autoclaves are maintained on a service contract and serviced every 4 months. Elaine carries out "time, steam and temperature" checks 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 inspected before being 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 every patient has a fresh, sterile set of dental handpieces,together with a cassette of sterile burs (drill tips). Whatever 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. ROOT CANAL FILES Our patients can be assured that a new set of root canal files is used for every patient undergoing a root canal treatment in line with Dept. of Health guidelines. They are discarded after use. This is the Gold Standard and whilst it has not been adopted in many countries in the world, we believe that it brings many benefits to our patients. In addition to ensuring that you are not at risk of contracting a CJD prion, it 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".