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Am I safe visiting the
dentist?
Medical History
 In today's world of
advancing medical and dental technology there are many patients who need
dental treatment that suffer from various ailments, have had surgery or
who use medications that may interact with drugs or materials used by
the dentist. This is why at Dental Excellence* we insist that every patient update their medical history each time they
present for a course of treatment. Help us to be a better dental
practice by providing complete and accurate personal
details.
Emergency Equipment
and First Aid
Hopefully we will never
need to use any of these, but just to be prepared all our team
members have had St John's first aid training. We also have an
up-to-date emergency medical box and oxygen, as well as a pulse-oximeter
to monitor heartbeat and oxygen levels. This device is routinely
used during conscious sedation
procedures.
Well Trained Staff
Even with the best
equipment and materials, the protection of patients and staff from cross
infection is compromised if the equipment and cleaning products are used
incorrectly. Our clinical staff have completed the NZDA accredited
Dental Chairside Assistants course where they learn the correct way to
maintain a 'sterile chain'. They also regularly liaise with
representatives from the companies that supply our cleaning products to
keep themselves up-to-date with the latest products and their proper
use.
Disposable Items
Where practical,
disposable equipment and other items are used. Nothing intended
for single use is re-used. Most noticeable will be the use of
gloves, plastic rinsing cups and paper hand towels (even in the
bathroom). We hope you don't notice the syringe needle, but rest
assured it is a new, sterile one!
 Instrument Cleaning
and Sterilisation
Cleaning
All our non-fragile instruments are cleaned in an ultrasonic bath prior
to steam autoclaving. This cleans better and is safer for staff
than hand scrubbing. Fragile instruments are hand cleaned using
manufacturer approved methods.
Sterilization
Whenever possible instruments are steam autoclaved. This includes
all surgical instruments, hand instruments and handpieces. At
DentalExcellence* we use a SciScan Statim high speed cassette autoclave
for our handpieces and a larger chamber hospital grade Medcom Millenium
B autoclave for our instrument trays, surgical instruments and for
sterilizing gauze swabs.
 Steri-Pouches
Instruments that will not be used immediately are sterilized in 'steri-pouches'
to keep them sterile until they are needed. Instruments that need
to be cold sterilized are cleaned and soaked in approved solutions
strictly to manufacturer's directions.
Bio-testing and
regular servicing
On a daily basis we use a colour change indicator test strip in our
autoclaves to make sure they are functioning correctly. In
addition to this we send a biological test specimen vial to Pathlab for
verification every week. The results are kept in a logbook along
with the record of all our service technician's annual service reports.
Surgery Surfaces and
Dental Units
After each patient all
surfaces (counter tops, dental chair, light handles, etc.) are
disinfected with a chemical solution specially formulated to kill
bacteria and their spores and viruses. The water lines in the
dental units are also regularly disinfected.
Infection Control
Charge
All the above procedures
and items involve a cost which we feel we would like you to know about.
For this reason we have not built the cost into our regular service
charges. Also, this is a fairer system. The cost for
infection control varies little for patients having a large or small
amount of treatment in a single session. Charging separately means each
patient carries the full cost of their infection control rather than a
patient having more services paying a proportionately larger amount if
the cost was built in.
 The charge covers:
-
the provision of
specialised equipment
-
its regular servicing
and certification
-
a large array of
cleaning and disinfection products and chemicals
-
 disposable items
-
ongoing training for
staff
-
time spent carrying
out the procedures correctly
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