HENRY SCHEIN || THE 2025 INTERACTIVE PLAYBOOK TO BUILDING YOUR DENTAL PRACTICE
DEVELOP INFECTION CONTROL RIGHT FROM THE START
Even before the pandemic, infection control was crucial in dental practices. Now with heightened awareness about infections, having the right measures in place is even more important — not just for ensuring compliance with the U.S. occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogen regulations and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protocols, but for demonstrating to patients your commitment to their health and safety.
A central part of this is how you set up your space to sterilize instruments. The CDC recommends dividing your sterilization room into distinct areas to prevent cross-contamination and to have a clear delineation of each task. This includes:
- Receiving, handling, cleaning and decontaminating instruments, typically using an automatic instrument washer or ultrasonic cleaner
- Preparing and packaging instruments
- Placing wrapped instruments or instrument cassettes into autoclaves for sterilization
- Storing sterilized instruments
GETTING STARTED
- Right-size your sterilization room(s). “Three-quarters of the challenge is adequate spacing,” says Jeff Carter, D.D.S., co-owner of Practice Design Group. “That means considering not only your practice’s current needs but how to accommodate future growth.”
- The more operatories you have, the more feet of countertop space that's needed to have a workflow where there is no threat of cross-contamination. Ideally for a practice with three to five operatories, there should be at least 12 lineal feet. Add two lineal feet for every two additional operatories. If you have more than 12 operatories, it makes sense to add a second sterilization room.
- Place the sterilization room in a central location that is convenient to operatories, with one entrance and one exit to keep traffic moving in one direction. Also, remember to spore test each autoclave weekly.