At Gentle Family Dentistry, every effort is made to maintain the highest quality of patient treatment and care. The same is true of our infection control procedures.

Cleanliness is a high priority at Gentle Family Dentistry. Because cross-contamination is a factor in dental offices, the entire staff all play an important role in keeping our office as uncontaminated as possible.

Hand sanitizers are located throughout the office and are used: between patients, before gloving, after removal of gloves, before leaving the operatory, upon returning to the operatory and as necessary to maintain the required cleanliness.

Gloves, masks and protective eye wear are worn by all providers during patient care. A disinfectant spray, that kills 99.9% of germs, is used on all surfaces of the operatory after every patient for a high level disinfection. Fresh barrier guards are then placed on the exam chair, x-ray head, tray tables, syringes and hand pieces.

Instruments, after every use, are autoclaved whenever possible. An "autoclave" is used to expose items to steam at high pressure in order to decontaminate them and render them sterile. Instruments that are sensitive to the high heat used in the autoclave process are sterilized in a machine called a Statim. Instruments are prepared for sterilization by first running them through an ultrasonic cleaning unit. They are then rinsed, dried, wrapped and put into our autoclave for a 45 minute cycle. Test strips are run through our autoclave, as well as our Statim, on a weekly basis in order to ensure the proper temperature & pressure for germ killing.

Every evening the suction lines are cleaned by running a detergent solution through them that removes organic and synthetic debris. Specially formulated tablets are added to our water system to help prevent contamination and maintain clean dental unit waterlines. These tablets eliminate odors and reduce the build-up of deposits in the lines.

Infectious waste is placed in a sharps container for safety. The sharps containers are properly disposed of when full. Noninfectious waste is emptied daily by a gloved custodian.

When you visit our office you can rest easy knowing we have done everything possible to ensure your safety. At Gentle Family Dentistry, we take pride in our work and go above and beyond to achieve the very best for the patient’s health and wellness.

** This article written by Rachel Haining, Process Coordinator at Gentle Family Dentistry in New Berlin, WI. Copyright© 2007 Gentle Family Dentistry (http://www.gfdonline.com). All rights reserved.