Concerns about hygiene in the dental clinic? We will take care of it!
Dr Gordon Tam • February 14, 2020
How far would you go keep your homes and workplaces clean and maintain the hygiene? With more and more new viruses we encounter these days, we are taking more precaution and higher frequency of disinfection. Because we care for you as much as you cared for your loved ones.
Many are concerned about the ongoing Coronavirus COVID-19 that is spreading not only in China, or Singapore, but worldwide. As part of the healthcare industry, we are as concerned as you. While many are equipping themselves with masks and hand rubs, cleaning their houses and offices with disinfectants, Smile Design Dental Practice has also stepped up our routine disinfecting procedures.
Apart from the usual routine stringent cleaning, we have increased the frequency of disinfecting common areas such as door handles, counter tops to even the pen you used to sign on the credit card slip!
What is Sterilisation?
In the healthcare industry, sterilisation process is the utmost guardian of success of any treatments. In Smile Design Dental Practice, we place a high emphasis on our entire sterilisation process and infection control. The sterilisation process consists of rinsing the used instruments and soaking them in a medical grade cleaning solution before proceeding to a round of thorough scrubbing and cleaning. These instruments are cleaned, dried and pouched into individual sterilisation pouches and sent into the autoclave to begin the high temperature sterilisation process.
As for tiny and fragile instruments such as dental burs, surgical instruments and endodontic instruments will undergo the cleaning process and an additional step to ensure that the instruments are thoroughly cleaned by putting into the ultrasonic machine to allow any possible dirt to detach from the instruments. Subsequently we will rinse these instruments for another round before drying and pouching them and finally enters the autoclave for the sterilisation process.
Our Sterilisation Process
One of the main deciding factors for a new patient when stepping into a dental clinic is hygiene. Other than the first impression, decor of the clinic, reception and services provided, sterilisation process (infection control) is vital to the operations of a dental clinic.
After treatments,our dental assistant is in charge of clearing out any sharp items from the treatment room and disposing them into the designated sharp box. She will then proceed to clear out instruments, equipment and handpieces and soak them in a chemical solution of our sterilisation room.
Cleaning of all instruments, equipment and handpieces will happen within the sterilisation room. According to the proper usage of chemical solution, we soak the used instruments, equipment and handpieces for at least 15 minutes before washing and scrubbing them thoroughly under running water. The instruments, equipment and handpieces are then dried, pouched and sealed individually.
Subsequently, we send the pouched items into the autoclave, a vacuum chamber that uses high pressure and high temperature to steam and sterilise all the items. Autoclaves can provide sterilisation of dental instruments and these dental instruments be kept sterile for up to 12 months in sealed pouches.
The autoclave is able to sterilise and kill viruses that cause mad cow disease, hepatitis and HIV. Our team records patient’s medical history and details. From the patient’s information and health history, we are able to take extra precaution and make sure that we adhere strictly to the safety and hygiene guidelines and protocols.
Through our stringent and meticulous system, we ensure the sterilisation process is carried out in the proper regime, to the highest level of sanitisation; for your peace of mind.
For more information and consultation, please contact Smile Design Dental Practice at +65 6463 8588 .
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Please contact us to schedule for an appointment.
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