Did you know? According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, healthcare-acquired infections affect over 4 million patients a year across Europe and cost around €7 billion in additional healthcare and direct financial losses[1]. That is an eye-opening statistic, but what’s interesting is that scientists and governments point to hand hygiene as one…
Infection control specialists dentisan are delighted to introduce a new, non-alcohol post wash skin disinfectant foam to their product portfolio. New DentiSure is an important addition to dentisan’s already comprehensive range of hand care products and dispensing solutions, providing a non-alcohol alternative for those who prefer this option. Hand hygiene is one of the most…
Learning Lessons from the Ebola Virus The importance of hand hygiene in dental practices The Ebola epidemic in West Africa became international news in March 2014 with the first confirmed case of what would soon become the worst outbreak of the disease since its discovery in 1976. At first the world took little notice of…
Keeping ahead of the decontamination game Peter Bacon explains why recent updates to HTM01-01 are likely to impact on instrument reprocessing in dental practices. The Department of Health’s (DH) latest Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 01-01 provides best practice guidance on the entire medical decontamination cycle, including the management and decontamination of reusable surgical instruments and…
Christmas, for many of us, is a time of fun, food and celebration with family and friends, but for the less fortunate, both here and abroad, it can be a cold, hungry and desperately lonely time. dentisan, along with their parent company, Quadralene, are striving to make a difference to those in need this Christmas.…
Reflections on HTM 01-05 Bob Newsome discusses decontamination with Martin Fulford. What contribution has HTM 01-05 made to decontamination in dental practices? I think its contribution has been positive and timely. At the time it was first published, dentists needed a document around infection control that had detail, but which was also easy to follow.…
Alcohol fixation of protein to surfaces Peter Bacon presents a paper on the effect of alcohol in infection control procedures. The phenomenon of protein fixation by alcohol has been well documented, with HTM 01-05 advising caution in the use of alcohol as a cleaner and disinfectant. The objective of decontamination procedures is to reduce the…
