Infection Control

Sterilization process challenging is not a new concept. It’s important for any industry that operates a sterilizer to develop a thorough quality assurance sterilization monitoring program. Notice how I called it a sterilization monitoring program. Sterilization testing is a disjointed task in many dental offices because it is not viewed as its own system within IPAC.

The two most popular alcohols used as disinfectants are ethyl alcohol (or ethanol) and isopropyl alcohol .

While both show potent germicidal activity, they have different applications in dental/medical environments.

Let's review the similarities and differences between them and understand which one is better suited for your dental facility.

Infection control is an indispensable part of hospital environments and medical settings.

Regular disinfection ensures that working surfaces are kept clean, and potential pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi are eliminated, thus reducing the risk of passing on contamination between patients and between patients and the clinic or hospital staff.

Several types of disinfectants are available in the market, each with a different active component in variable ratios and concentrations.

The choice of disinfectant depends on the spectrum of antimicrobial activity, access, safety factors, handling factors, contact time, and ease of use.

The names Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and Isopropanol are synonymous.

Dental offices are no strangers to the potential of having an unannounced IPAC Public Health inspection. Now dental offices can add the possibility of the Ministry of Labour randomly arriving to the dental practice to inspect the offices pandemic plan and compliance. The difference between the two inspections is Public Health is mandated to protect the public and the Ministry of Labour for the employee/worker safety. Every workplace must be free of hazards to the employee, this includes infection control with the SARS-COV-2 being an infectious hazard. The missions of both authorities do overlap in the end with the result being overall human safety.

A hand hygiene program is embedded within the contents of an office's IPAC Program and is often ill-defined. Dental offices may be performing hand hygiene tasks, have procured the necessary products and posted directions for proper hand hygiene, however, it goes much further than this.

In the last article, I discussed the need to reflect on DUWL as part of the pre-planning to eventually return to practice once the coronavirus pandemic emergency state is lifted. I received many inquiries on product selection ranging from a regular maintenance program to the ‘oh no my DUWL biofilm is out of control’ action program.

In the current situation of dental office closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are varying degrees of concerns that dental professionals are facing. Myself, as an RDH working clinically and an IPAC educator, I have a constant barrage of "what’s and if’s" anxiously circling through my mind like a movie stuck on repeat.

maxill is constantly doing research on any and every topic related to Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC). In the latest news releases, it is now common knowledge that a serious virus, the Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), is an evolving situation. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Public Health Sectors, PIDAC, CDC and WHO are all working diligently to ensure the containment of the virus and public awareness for surveillance.

The maxill PCD is part of ‘Batch Monitoring’ in the quality assurance of sterilization. Currently Health Canada does not regulate PCDs and therefore the batch monitoring PCD is not listed as a medical device.

When you're using a manufacturer process challenge device for stream sterilization, does a Type V chemical indicator still need to be placed in every package? The best approach to answering this question is to step back and review the job of the chemical indicators.