Dental Surgery Cleaning

Dental Surgeries are inevitably being met with bigger cleaning challenges than usual since the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdowns.

The guidelines that dentists must now meet are now much tougher than before.

Dental practices need to remain open so patients can get the care that they need during emergencies.

With that said, there are many things a Dental Practice can do to minimise the risk of infection and cross contamination by adjusting their operating and cleaning procedures.

NB: You should always refer to the latest guidance and advice from the British Dental Association (BDA), the Care Quality Commission, the General Dental Council and the NHS.

Dental Practice Cleaning – A tougher task than ever

Dental practices now need to be cleaned more rigorously and regularly than ever before.

In addition, meeting the social distancing guidelines can be difficult in old practices within traditional buildings or even impossible due to the work that needs to be carried out.

However, there are several steps dental practices can take to reduce the likely hood of spreading coronavirus whilst keeping their premises clean.

Let’s take a look at seven of the most important steps right now.

1. Close Dental Surgery Waiting Rooms

Waiting rooms are areas where social distancing can be difficult to maintain due to the size and design yet are high risk in terms of cross contamination from Covid-19.

Furthermore, maintaining a clean and sterile environment within a Waiting Room is difficult as they should be cleaned before and after every patient.

From a practical perspective it is much easier to close waiting rooms and have patients go direct into the treatment rooms.

In some cases this may mean only one patient is on the premises at any one time.

2. Provide a limited dental service

Certain dental treatments are more likely to include “aerosol generating procedures” (AGP’s).
Within this context “aerosols” are very small droplets of water which can present an infection risk.

These droplets can land on objects and surfaces which patients may touch and then go on to touch their eyes, nose or mouth.

Dental treatments that generate AGPs’s need to be reduced and organised in a way to limit the potential risk of cross contamination between patients and staff working in the practice.

Rooms where these treatments are undertaken should have additional cleaning measures in place with particular attention paid to any air ventilation system in the rooms which should be cleaned and sterilised.

Rooms with only natural ventilation should not be used for AGP’s.

It’s also worth noting that cleaning in rooms that have undergone AGP should not commence until 10 minutes after the end of the procedure.

This allows time for all the airborne droplets to settle.

Please note rooms with any form of mechanical ventilation may require cleaning by specialist contractor.

3. Check patient temperatures

This tip is unrelated to cleaning but it can help you maintain a safe dental practice in a Covid-19 world.

Screen patients’ temperatures before they enter your premises and advise them to rebook if they have a temperature of more than 37.5 degrees.

These patients could be rescheduled till after the 14-day quarantine period to minimise risk.

As you will be aware patients infected with Covid-19 need cannot be denied treatment, however, the practice should be forewarned in advance of treating anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

4. Clean continuously throughout the surgery

Unfortunately there is no way to avoid the additional workload required to maintain and safe and sterile Dental Practice.

If you plan to use existing staff members for cleaning such as Dental Nurses then from a risk perspective the Dental practice should provide specific training for the nurses in relation to the Coronavirus.

Your equipment should be cleaned and disinfected between each appointment with particular attention being paid to the treatment chair, rinse station, x-ray equipment.

In many cases after treatment patients may be required to sign or pay for services. If this is the case you must ensure additional items such as but not limited to, pens, credit card payment terminals, and the hard surfaces around these areas must be cleaned and disinfected in between each patient.

Treatment rooms and other high-use surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected much more regularly than usual.

Evaluate and reduce the number of surfaces patients touch such as door furniture, coat hooks/racks and reception desks.

Place patients bags and coats in easy to clean plastic crates and sterilise in between patients.

Where possible remove all “clutter” from desks and work areas to make cleaning easier.

5. Restrict appointments and use full PPE

Another step many dentists are taking to stop the spread of coronavirus is to reduce the number of appointments that take place during a typical day in their practice.

The reason for this is to allow more time for cleaning between appointments and reduce the risk of cross contamination.

Only essential staff should be present in the treatment rooms and and full PPE now needs to be worn by all dental staff to reduce the transmission of coronavirus.

This will typically require all team members to protect themselves and patients with PPE at all times.

6. Use fogging services where required

Fogging has also been used by a huge number of dental surgeries to destroy potentially lethal bacteria and germs.

This may need to take place daily due to the amount of patient traffic coming through your premises.

During the fogging process, disinfectant is sprayed from a fogging machine. The ‘fog’ can then reach surfaces that other processes fail to.

These may include corners and confined spaces. It can also be used to disinfect vertical surfaces.

Fogging should never replace your other cleaning processes, but it can complement them remarkably well.

For instance, you will need to use other methods to clean and disinfect downwards-facing surfaces such as the underside of door handles.

7. Pro-actively manage patients expectations

Polls said around a third of UK individuals were now hesitant to visit their dentists, therefore, dentist practices should encourage patients into making and sticking to appointments.

Upon confirmation of appointments patients should be advised on any new Covid-19 specific safety processes in place.

Every patient should sanitise their hands on arrival and wear a mask.

Encourage patients not to touch anything unless necessary and whatever they have touched must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the next patient.

If patients fail to get the treatment that they need, their dental health could deteriorate.

Dental Fogging Services

Perfect Service Solutions are a commercial cleaning specialists with the right certifications to keep your premises, staff and patients safe.

Our dental practice cleaning division can help your business stay in operation safely as the pandemic continues and help you prepare to re-open after a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Our fully trained technicians use specialist techniques and equipment to keep germs to a minimum, ensuring patients feel safe enough to visit your practice and protect your surgery.

There is more information about the best practices for dentists during Covid-19 on the General Dental Council website.

Technical Standards for Cleaning

In addition to ISO 18001 Perfect Service Solutions meet or exceed the following regulations relating to commercial cleaning:

CHAS – Contractors Health & Safety Assessment Scheme
HTM 03-01 – Department of Health
LPCB – Loss Prevention Certification Board
TR-19 – Building Engineering Services Association

Call us now on 08000 197 794 or email us using the form below

Simone Hart-Sibbald, Founder & CEO

Dental Surgery Cleaning – 7 Strategies for Covid-19