Keeping control: The importance of infection control in dentistry

Craig, Kate

doi:10.1038/sj.vital.vital037

Cited by 1 publication

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“…In dental settings, close contact between oral healthcare professionals (OHCPs) and patients can lead to the transmission of infectious diseases. (1) During appointments, instruments and equipment are contaminated with patients' blood and saliva and can be a source of infection through indirect transmission. (2) Blood-borne pathogens of primary concern include hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Sterilizer Performance Through External Biological Indicator Testing: A Retrospective Study

Vatanparast,

Buitrago,

Siqueira

2024

Preprint

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Background Quality assurance policies mitigate the risk of nosocomial infections from dental office instrument sterilization by assessing sterilizer performance through biological indicator (BI) testing. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of failed sterilization cycles and their causes of failure for a period of eight years through database analysis of a quality assurance laboratory in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Methods A database of BIs (n = 198,771) performed by an independent quality assurance laboratory from 2015–2022 was analyzed. Dental offices (n = 362) inserted Sporview® Biological Sterility Indicators strips in full sterilizer loads and mailed the processed BI tests to an external quality assurance laboratory for analysis. Samples were assessed based on a colorimetric method checking for changes in color and turbidity. Data was treated and statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 28.0. Results The overall failure rate throughout the study was 0.20%, and it decreased gradually from 0.51% (2015) to 0.15% (2022). On average, retests were conducted within 2 days of failure notification. The preferred method of processing was steam sterilization (98%), which had a steadily increasing utilization over time and displays a statistically lower failure rate (0.20%) as opposed to dry heat (1.30%) and chemical vapor (1.40%) sterilizers. Most BI failures were attributable to human error (91.80%), and mechanical malfunctions were significantly more likely to occur with dry heat or chemical vapor sterilizers (p < .001). Conclusion This study significantly contributes to the understanding of dental sterilizer performance in Canada. The low and decreasing sterilizer failure rates over the study period indicate safe dental office procedures and reduced potential for disease transmissions. The study highlights the effectiveness of steam sterilizers with remarkably low failure rates, while human error remains the primary cause of failures. Further research should focus on identifying factors leading to human error and interventions to minimize sterilization failures in dental settings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%