April 12, 2018, Lakewood, Colorado – The safety of patients should always be the first priority for all dental offices and dental professionals. When that is not the case, severe consequences may be faced and patients may need to seek medical attention as well. This was the case in the recent suspension of a Portsmouth, New Hampshire dentist.
In this instance specifically, the dentist under suspension breached infection-control protocols by using non-sterilized instruments on at least four patients.1 It was reported that the instruments used were placed in the autoclave for sterilization, but the biological indicator showed a failed cycle. It was also found that the dental office did not have proper infectious disease control protocols in place, and there was no infectious disease control representative on site.
Cases like this stress the importance of ensuring patient safety and choosing the right Biological Indicators and Cleaning Indicators which can provide clear, defensible pass/fail data are a large step toward following the proper guidelines. Make sure that your office has the right procedures in place and uses reliable biological indicators to ensure sterilization of all instruments used on patients.
Source:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20180314/portsmouth-dentist-suspended-by-state-board
