In the last few years, patient protection has become an issue of public concern. It has become necessary for health care facilities to consistently apply state-of-the-art sterilization and disinfection techniques to provide patients with maximum protection.
In our office, your child’s safety is our highest priority. Infection control protects your child, our patient, and our team from disease transmission. In addition to routine precautions, we take extra care to follow standards established by the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to control the spread of infection. Throughout the day, we continuously and thoroughly sterilize our equipment for your protection.
Our protocol for sterilization includes the following:Before and after each patient appointment, all treatment surfaces (e.g., counter tops, chair surfaces, lights, x-ray machines, and trays) are disinfected with the most effective and safest products available. We always wash our hands and change gloves, keep our operators clean, use disposable items, wear protective clothing and eye wear, and dispose of waste properly. All team members are updated annually in proper patient protection procedures and have been vaccinated against the Hepatitis-B virus.
To ensure your child’s safety, we follow a number of standard sterilization procedures with all instruments and hand-pieces. First, they are brought into our sterilization room and placed in an ultrasonic cleaner to remove even microscopic debris. The instruments and hand-pieces are then rinsed thoroughly before being sterilized in an autoclave (heat-sterilization), which runs for 20 minutes and reaches a temperature of 400 – 425 degrees, thereby destroying all bacteria and all viruses. This is done between each patient use. Our autoclave and dry heat sterilizer are monitored regularly to ensure their effectiveness and safety. Those few items that cannot be heat-sterilized are cleaned and disinfected.
We will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding patient protection and give you a personal tour of our sterilization facility. Healthcare safety is an important part of our job and we are proud of the standards we maintain.
Children’s Dental Clinic provides high quality dental care and patient comfort for the children of Tupelo, Pontotoc, Amory, Aberdeen, Booneville, Baldwyn, Corinth, Grenada, Oxford, Guntown, New Albany, Verona, Houston, Saltillo, Shannon, Sherman, Mantachie and Plantersville, Mississippi, as well as West Alabama and Jackson, TN.
