Marie T. Fluent, DDS
Sterile dental instruments must be supplied for each patient, at each appointment, and processed in a consistent manner every time. Each step of instrument processing must be completed per accepted guidelines and recommendations that satisfy applicable regulatory agencies and be performed in a safe manner. In addition, dental personnel who clean, inspect, package, sterilize, and store instruments often have a myriad of other clinical responsibilities; instrument processing is only a fraction of one’s job! The entire process may seem daunting.
The question remains, how do busy dental personnel learn the proper methods of instrument processing?
Fortunately, manufacturers’ instructions for reprocessing dental instruments are provided for each reusable instrument or device. These instructions should be detailed, easy to understand, and posted near the reprocessing area. Fortunately, instrument processing recommendations have been made available to dental personnel in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings—2003.1
A more recent CDC document provides the “CliffsNotes” version of infection prevention to use as a reference, introduction, and/or review. The 2016 Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care is based on the 2003 Guidelines. The Summary is not considered a replacement for these more extensive guidelines, and readers are urged to consult the full document for additional background, rationale, and scientific evidence behind each recommendation.2
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