Infection Prevention Part 3 - Sterilisation

Course Overview

Infection prevention relies on effective sterilisation. Proper reprocessing of reusable instruments is essential to protect both patients and the dental team from the transmission of infectious diseases.

In most practices, reprocessing duties are shared among various team members - from Dental Assistants and Sterilisation Nurses to Practice Managers and Front Office Coordinators stepping in when needed. However, clinicians remain ultimately accountable for ensuring that instruments are properly sterilised before use, and it’s therefore important that they also have a clear understanding of how sterilisation is achieved before they reuse an instrument in a patient’s mouth.

This session provides a comprehensive overview of sterilisation processes, highlighting common challenges and how to ensure compliance through reliable workflows.

You and your team will explore:

• How sterilisation fits into the accountability vs. responsibility framework within your Infection Prevention Management Plan

• Common frustrations encountered in the sterilisation area

• The impact of poor room design and limited space on workflow efficiency

• Key points of failure in the sterilisation process - and how to avoid them

• The importance of testing, monitoring, recording, and storing cycle data (because if it’s not documented, it’s not considered done!)

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Recognise how workflow design impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of instrument reprocessing

2. Understand how an instrument’s intended use determines its required level of reprocessing

3. Identify essential components of testing, monitoring, and documentation to ensure regulatory compliance

4. Outline the steps in a validated sterilisation process and how to implement them successfully