In dental treatments, the first thing patients visiting the clinic care about is being examined in a clean and organized clinic, starting their treatments, and continuing their procedures. As a clinic, the importance of this sterilization process should be recognized for both patient health and staff health.
Dental clinics are obliged to apply high-level control and to implement the sterilization process in regular and well-ordered sequential steps. In this process, there are successful and systematic steps applied by the staff for professionalism and patient health.
The controlled and orderly sequence in the sterilization process protects the staff working in this unit, the dentist, the assistant, and the patients. It prevents the spread of infectious diseases and the growth of bacteria and microorganisms that may form on instruments and surfaces.
Not all materials and instruments used in dentistry are disposable. The materials used, such as “examination set (probe-mirror-tweezers), hand instruments (mixing spatula-filling instruments), and surgical instruments (forceps-elevator-implant sets)” are collected after use by the sterilization staff and are made ready for reuse after going through a specific cleaning process.
In this process, there are stages such as collecting, cleaning, washing, drying, packaging, and placing into the autoclave. During this time, the staff must work extremely knowledgeably, carefully, and sensitively. After the autoclave process, the sterile (clean) instruments are checked again by the staff and prepared for use. Each process must be applied carefully and precisely by experienced staff.
The sequence followed for a safe and sterile process is as follows:
• Personal protection
• Sterilization process
PERSONAL PROTECTION
The doctor, assistant, and sterilization staff must use protective equipment completely and regularly to protect themselves from infectious diseases that may occur during and after the procedure. These include goggles, face shield, mask, gloves, and protective gown as personal protective equipment.
STERILIZATION PROCESS
The sterilization process requires a detailed, careful, and multi-stage procedure. Instruments that need to be sterilized are collected by the staff, then placed in a special washing machine for instruments, or sometimes washed manually with special solution-based chemicals and detergents.
After washing, drying and inspection of the instruments are carried out. Then, the cleaned instruments are placed into specially packaged pouches and packaged. They are then placed into high-steam devices called autoclaves, where they are processed for 1–1.5 hours.
This high-steam autoclave device is the final stage applied to eliminate all microorganisms. By checking the indicator paper placed inside the device, which shows that the instruments are sterile and ready for use, the instruments are prepared again for procedures.
