Disinfection and Sterilization

Sterilization and disinfection are important for both personal safety and patient safety. Rather than a cookbook approach, these should be viewed as processes that are utilized based on philosophy. The philosophy of how an item is used, stored, contaminated and reused or disposed determines the optimal method of sterilization and disinfection.

 

            Sterilization and disinfection are important to prevent the chain of infection in the dental office. The chain of infection is:

• An entrance through which the pathogen may enter the host.
• A susceptible host is one who is not immune or has compromised immunity.
• A sufficient number of pathogens or infection-causing organisms must be present to produce infection. This is called the infectious dose. This varies for different infections or diseases. There must be a reservoir or source that allows the infection agent to survive and multiply (e.g. Blood).

 

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