Caring for your dental health is extremely important, and while dentists primarily work to clean and protect your teeth, there’s also the possibility that they can make a situation worse if they don’t have adequate infection prevention strategies. At Smiles For Life Dental in Bloomington, we have strict infection prevention guidelines for all hygienists and dentists so we can ensure your teeth stay healthy. Below, we talk a little bit about the many ways in which we work to help prevent the spread of infections through hygenic dental practices.
Protecting Our Patients
The mouth is full of bacteria, which is why it is so important that dental professionals work hard to prevent the spread of germs. Some of the ways we work hard to do that include:
- Regular Hand Washing – Dental professionals are trained to wash their hands with warm soapy water between each patient. You can ask us to wash our hands again, but know that we wash them between each and every patient.
- Protective Gear – Our dental staff is also equipped with the protective gear to keep both patient and provider safe from infection. You’ll see us wearing gloves, masks, gowns and sometimes eyewear to help prevent the spread of germs. New gloves and masks are put on between each and every patient.
- Instrument Disinfection – Instrumentation disinfection is crucial for every dental practice. Either we use tools that are one-and-done, meaning that they are thrown away after they are used on a patient, or they are sterilized between patients. We can show you the sterilization process next time you’re in the clinic if you’re interested, but you can also trust that every reusable item goes through a rigorous sterilization process between each patient.
- Surface Cleaning – Between each patient, we also work to make sure each exam room is cleaned. The dental chair, the dental light, drawers and surfaces are wiped down with disinfectants between patients to ensure each patient has access to clean rooms. We take pride in ensuring every exam room is clean for each and every patient.
As you can see, we’re very thorough when it comes to making sure that we cut down on the spread of germs and infections. Our job is to provide you with the best possible service, and that’s only possible if we treat infection control as a high priority item. To see our team in action, or to set up your next appointment, reach out to Dr. Brooks and the team at Smiles For Life Dental in Bloomington today.