Decontamination Into Practice

(latest publication December 2011)

'Decontamination Into Practice' is a series of documents that provides advice on various aspects of instrument decontamination in dental practice, including Cleaning and Sterilization of reusable instruments. Appendices with related information and Supporting Tools are also available to download.

Background

Effective decontamination of instruments is a key element of infection control and the provision of quality dental care. A range of technical specifications and legal standards govern the decontamination process. Historically, existing guidance concerned with meeting these was not easily accessible or well publicised to primary care dental services. Furthermore, decontamination provision and its accompanying guidance are constantly evolving as new information and equipment becomes available.

Based on these existing sources of information, 'Decontamination Into Practice' is a series of advice documents concerned with organising and carrying out decontamination. Written specifically for primary dental care providers, the advice is presented in a manner that aims to facilitate improvements in decontamination practice and help the evolution towards compliance with the relevant mandatory and statutory standards.

A small group of professionals with particular interest and experience in decontamination in dental practice has developed the guidance in consultation with expert advisors and end users and assisted by our Programme Development Team.

Guidance Development Group  

Name	Details
Alice Miller (Chair)	General Dental Practitioner, Duns, Borders; VT Advisor, NHS Education for Scotland.
Jeremy Bagg	Head of Glasgow Dental School and Professor of Clinical Microbiology, University of Glasgow.
Irene Black	General Dental Practitioner; Dental Advisor, Care Commission; Dental Practice Advisor, NHS Greater Glasgow; Dental Advisor (Decontamination), NHS Education for Scotland.
Iris Green	Dental Nurse Manager, Tayside University Hospital Trust, Dundee Dental Hospital.
Margaret Leggate	General Dental Practitioner, Aberdeen; Specialist in Periodontics, Clinical Effectiveness Adviser with NHS Grampian.
Dawn Adams*	Clinical Director of Community Dental Services, NHS Fife.
Irene Hanevy*	Dental Practice Co-ordinator, NHS Fife.
Christine Young*	Infection Control Nurse Advisor, NHS Education for Scotland.
Fiona Zinkewycz*	Senior Dental Nurse, General Dental Service, Fife.
Gillian Irvine¶	Senior Infection Control Nurse, Health Protection Scotland, on secondment to University of Glasgow Dental School from September 2004 to January 2007.

* For Part 2 (Sterilization) only. ¶ For Part 1 (Cleaning) only

The group also thanks Andrew Smith, Professor of Clinical Bacteriology and Honorary Consultant in Microbiology at the University of Glasgow Dental School, who chaired the group until July 2005. The group gratefully acknowledges the expert advice provided by members of the Health Facilities Scotland Decontamination Team. 

Guidance Development

Both Parts 1 and Parts 2 of 'Decontamination Into Practice' were subject to wide consultation and Peer Review.  At each stage the feedback received was carefully considered and the guidance amended accordingly prior to publication.  As new knowledge and technology develops it may be necessary to update this guidance in the future. For further information about the consultation process see SDCEP Guidance.

Page last edited: 09 February 2012