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Is your facility compliant with
industry standards as recommended by the CDC, AAMI, AORN, ADA,
OSAP, and the Joint Commission? Are you following best practice
recommendations? (Some are quoted below with their cross
references).
Other guidelines
can be viewed at:
DENTAL REGULATIONS
MEDICAL REGULATIONS
TATTOO & BODY PIERCING REGULATIONS
The CDC
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
www.cdc.gov
Recommended Infection-Control
Practices for Dentistry, 1993. “Proper functioning of
sterilization cycles should be verified by the periodic use (at
least weekly) of biological indicators (i.e. spore tests).
Heat sensitive chemical indicators (e.g. those that change color
after exposure to heat) alone do not ensure adequacy of a
sterilization cycle but may be used on the outside of each pack
to identify packs that have been processed through the heating
cycle. A simple and inexpensive method to confirm heat
penetration to all instruments during each cycle is the use of a
chemical indicator inside and in the center of either a load of
unwrapped instruments or in each multiple instrument pack; this
procedure is recommended for use in all dental practices.
Instructions provided by the manufacturers of medical/dental
instruments and sterilization devices should be followed
closely.”
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report (MMWR) 41(RR-8), May 28, 1993
ADA
(American Dental Association)
www.ada.org
“This report is based on the
recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (see the CDC recommendations above) and other
publications in the medical and dental literature. The
recommendations in this document have been accepted by the
Council on Scientific Affairs and the Council on Dental
Practice. The Councils strongly urge practitioners and dental
laboratories to comply with these infection control
practices…Since this document is not intended to cover every
aspect of infection control compliance, the dentist, his or her
staff and that of dental laboratories should refer to the
referenced publications.”
Infection Control
Recommendations for the Dental Office and the Dental Laboratory
ANSI / AAMI
(American National Standards Institute Inc. / Association for
the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation)
www.aami.org
“Biological indicators should be
used within PCDs for routine sterilizer efficacy monitoring at
least weekly, but preferably every day that the sterilizer is in
use.” ANSI/AAMI ST79:2006, Section 10.5.3.2
AORN
(Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses)
www.aorn.org
“For routine monitoring should
be used weekly, and as needed; each load of implantables.”
Recommended Practices,
Sterilization & Disinfection, 1987
OSAP
(Organization for Safety & Asepsis Procedures)
www.osap.org
“The use and functioning of heat
sterilizers should be biologically monitored at least weekly, or
more often if the practice demands it, with appropriate spore
tests.” Infection Control in Dentistry Guidelines, September
1997
VA
(Veteran’s Administration)
“…must be sterilizer monitored
no less than weekly, each load of implantables or intravascular
materials, following major sterilizer repairs, new products or
packaging material.” VA Manual G1, MP-2, Sub-chapter E, Change
159, June 22, 1083
AAP
(American Academy of Pediatrics)
www.aap.org
Biological indicators are
necessary to ensure sterility. A variety of indicator systems
are available. The procedure recommended by the manufacturer to
document sterility should be done at least weekly and results
should be recorded.” (from June 2000 Policy Statement)
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