Guidelines for
Infection Control
Third Edition
,ADA’s Guidelines for Infection Control
Third Edition
©2015
Authorised by Dr Rick Olive AM RFD, Federal President, Australian Dental Association
Published by the Australian Dental Association
PO Box 520
St Leonards NSW 1590
Australia
Phone: +612 9906 4412
Fax: +612 9906 4917
Email:
Web: www.ada.org.au
©Australian Dental Association 2015
First published 2009, Second Edition 2012
This work is copyright. Apart from any permitted use under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced
by any process without written permission from the publisher. Enquiries should be directed to the Australian Dental
Association at the above address.
Disclaimer: The routine work practises outlined in these guidelines are designed to reduce the number of infectious agents
in the dental practice environment; prevent or reduce the likelihood of transmission of these infectious agents from one
person or item / location to another; and make items and areas as free as possible from infectious agents.
Professional judgement is essential in determining the necessary application of these guidelines to the particular
circumstances of each individual dental practice.
ISBN 978-0-909961-41-1
,Contents
Foreword i
What’s new ii
Introduction iii
Definitions v
A. Infection control 1
1. What is infection control? 1
2. Legislative frameworks 3
3. Duty of care 3
4. Treating patients with blood-borne viral infections 5
5. Infected dental practitioners 5
B. Standard precautions of infection control 6
1. Hand hygiene 6
Hand care 7
2. Personal protective equipment 7
Gloves 7
Masks 8
Eye protection 8
Protective clothing 9
Footwear 9
3. Surgical procedures and aseptic technique 9
4. Management of sharps 9
Disposal of sharps 10
5. Management of clinical waste 10
6. Environment 11
Design of premises 11
Cleaning the environment 11
Treatment areas 12
C. Infection control strategies within the contaminated zone 13
1. Clean and contaminated zones 13
2. Waterlines and water quality 14
Water quality 14
3. Single-use items 14
4. Matrix bands 15
5. Burs 15
6. Implant drills 15
, D. Instrument reprocessing 16
1. Categories of instruments: infection risk relative to instrument use 16
2. Instrument reprocessing area and workflow 17
Design of reprocessing area 17
3. Transfer of contaminated instruments and sharps 18
4. Cleaning 18
Manual cleaning 19
Mechanical cleaning 19
Drying instruments 19
5. Packaging prior to steam sterilisation 20
6. Batch Control Identification (BCI) 20
7. Steam sterilisation 22
8. Maintenance and testing 22
Validation of the sterilisation process 22
Monitoring of cycles 23
Operating the steam steriliser 23
9. Steam steriliser performance tests 23
Loading 23
Drying 24
Checking the completed load 24
Retention of hard copy printouts from steam sterilisers 24
10. Steam steriliser monitoring tests 24
Chemical indicators 24
Storage of chemical indicators 25
Biological indicators 26
11. Disinfection 26
Thermal disinfection using washer-disinfectors 26
Chemical disinfection using instrument disinfectants – high level 26
12. Storage of processed instruments 26
User checks to be made before using instruments 27
Unwrapped semi-critical and non-critical items 27
E. Documentation and practice protocols for infection control 28
1. Maintaining sterilisation records 28
2. Infection control for dental practitioners and clinical support staff 29
Immunisation 29
Immunisation records 29
Education 30
3. Exposure incident protocol 30
4. Infection control manual and other practice management issues 30
Infection control manual 31
Infection Control
Third Edition
,ADA’s Guidelines for Infection Control
Third Edition
©2015
Authorised by Dr Rick Olive AM RFD, Federal President, Australian Dental Association
Published by the Australian Dental Association
PO Box 520
St Leonards NSW 1590
Australia
Phone: +612 9906 4412
Fax: +612 9906 4917
Email:
Web: www.ada.org.au
©Australian Dental Association 2015
First published 2009, Second Edition 2012
This work is copyright. Apart from any permitted use under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced
by any process without written permission from the publisher. Enquiries should be directed to the Australian Dental
Association at the above address.
Disclaimer: The routine work practises outlined in these guidelines are designed to reduce the number of infectious agents
in the dental practice environment; prevent or reduce the likelihood of transmission of these infectious agents from one
person or item / location to another; and make items and areas as free as possible from infectious agents.
Professional judgement is essential in determining the necessary application of these guidelines to the particular
circumstances of each individual dental practice.
ISBN 978-0-909961-41-1
,Contents
Foreword i
What’s new ii
Introduction iii
Definitions v
A. Infection control 1
1. What is infection control? 1
2. Legislative frameworks 3
3. Duty of care 3
4. Treating patients with blood-borne viral infections 5
5. Infected dental practitioners 5
B. Standard precautions of infection control 6
1. Hand hygiene 6
Hand care 7
2. Personal protective equipment 7
Gloves 7
Masks 8
Eye protection 8
Protective clothing 9
Footwear 9
3. Surgical procedures and aseptic technique 9
4. Management of sharps 9
Disposal of sharps 10
5. Management of clinical waste 10
6. Environment 11
Design of premises 11
Cleaning the environment 11
Treatment areas 12
C. Infection control strategies within the contaminated zone 13
1. Clean and contaminated zones 13
2. Waterlines and water quality 14
Water quality 14
3. Single-use items 14
4. Matrix bands 15
5. Burs 15
6. Implant drills 15
, D. Instrument reprocessing 16
1. Categories of instruments: infection risk relative to instrument use 16
2. Instrument reprocessing area and workflow 17
Design of reprocessing area 17
3. Transfer of contaminated instruments and sharps 18
4. Cleaning 18
Manual cleaning 19
Mechanical cleaning 19
Drying instruments 19
5. Packaging prior to steam sterilisation 20
6. Batch Control Identification (BCI) 20
7. Steam sterilisation 22
8. Maintenance and testing 22
Validation of the sterilisation process 22
Monitoring of cycles 23
Operating the steam steriliser 23
9. Steam steriliser performance tests 23
Loading 23
Drying 24
Checking the completed load 24
Retention of hard copy printouts from steam sterilisers 24
10. Steam steriliser monitoring tests 24
Chemical indicators 24
Storage of chemical indicators 25
Biological indicators 26
11. Disinfection 26
Thermal disinfection using washer-disinfectors 26
Chemical disinfection using instrument disinfectants – high level 26
12. Storage of processed instruments 26
User checks to be made before using instruments 27
Unwrapped semi-critical and non-critical items 27
E. Documentation and practice protocols for infection control 28
1. Maintaining sterilisation records 28
2. Infection control for dental practitioners and clinical support staff 29
Immunisation 29
Immunisation records 29
Education 30
3. Exposure incident protocol 30
4. Infection control manual and other practice management issues 30
Infection control manual 31
