Online course on
Infection Control in a Dental Practice

Aseptic Techniques
Further Content:
Aseptic techniques encompass the philosophy that all patients should be considered as potentially infectious, and that care is taken all times to avoid exposure. As such prevention of disease transmission can be accomplished by the use of:

  Infectious diseases

  General Concepts

  Laboratory Asepsis

  Infection Control  Program

  CPD
Engineering controls

These are controls which isolate or remove the hazard from the workplace. Some examples include:
  • Personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, face shields, eye wear, clothing)
  • Surface disinfectants (Click here for SteriWise Surface disinfectant)
  • Environmental barriers (aluminium foil, clear wrap, rubber sleeves)
  • Sharps containers
  • Separate bag for infectious waste
Work practice controls

These are controls which reduce the risk of exposure by altering the manner in which a task is performed. Some examples include:

"Do's and Don'ts"

Aspect
 DO!
 DON'T!
Hands
 Keep finger nails short
Keep skin smooth and moist with cream
 Damage skin with manicuring
Wear jewellery
Allow skin to become chapped or dry
Hand washing
 Use anti microbial soap with a high residual action and rinse with cold water to close pores.
Use an autoclave scrub brush only once  day
Wash the forearms
You need to wash your hands for at least 15 sec
Use disposable towels
 Use detergent soap
Use a scrub brush between patients
Use short wash times
Reuse cloth towels
Use soap that causes irritation
Gloves
 Dry hands completely before gloving
Change once per hour
Change when surface texture is altered
Change after each patient
Use latex examination or surgical gloves for all treatment procedures

 Wear jewellery under gloves
Reuse a single pair of gloves
Say "I can't wear gloves"
Use vinyl gloves for treatment procedures
Instrument cleaning
 Use an autoclave soft brush
Use submerged scrubbing
Use neutral detergent
Burs remove debris with a wire brush before ultrasonic cleaning
 Use steel wool or abrasive powder
Create spatter by improper scrubbing
Use soap
Burs-use only the ultrasonic cleaner

Additional information

Hand washing
 The warm, moist environment within gloves potentiates microbe growth, therefore use an anti microbial soap with residual action.
Soap


Accepted types of anti microbial soap are
4% Chlorhexidine gluconate (Click here for SteriWise Handwash)

  
Gloves
 Gloves must always be worn when touching blood, saliva or mucous membranes.
Facts about gloves:
  • It is easier to clean gloved hands than bare hands
  • Tactile sensitivity is not lost with glove use
  • Allergy to glove material or powder is relatively rare
  • Gloves contain pinholes over 1,7 -1,9% of surface areas
  • defects increase up to 79% with use or washing with alcohol or strong soaps
Masks and protective eye wear
 Masks and protective eye wear should only be worn when aerosols and spatter are being generated.
Spatter or aerosols may be generated in the operatory, instrument cleaning area and laboratory
Masks and protective eye wear are worn together or not at all. Thus if circumstances are such that protective eye wear must be worn, then a mask must also be used.
The mask and protective eye wear may be substituted by the face shield
Facts about masks:
  • Protect the mucosa surface of the mouth, nose and lungs
  • A 95% filtration rate of 3 to 5 micron sized particles is sufficient to effectively reduce the number of infectious agents
  • masks made from glass fibre or synthetic fibres filter microbes better than gauze or paper masks
  • masks should be changed after each patient
Protective clothing
 Should protect the skin of arms and upper torso
May be worn over street clothes
Should not be worn outside the office
To be changed every day or when dirty
Disposable clothing may be used


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