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Introduction
It is important from the beginning of this course that everyone understands important terms.
Unfortunately, this is an unacceptable definition of "disinfect." Disinfection is not the same as sterilization. For the precise needs of the dental and medical industry, an item is clean if debris, dirt, or visible blood is removed from the surface. Cleaning alone does not remove all the microorganisms, but it is an important first step to the correct sterile procedure. True sterilization involves killing all microorganisms including hardy bacterial spores on a certain surface or instrument. Disinfection lies somewhere in between these two. Disinfection may kill all kinds of disease-producing microorganisms but cannot kill bacterial spores.
The following terms will be used throughout this coursei, ii:
Selections from a slide set prepared by the CDC to accompany the CDC "Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings - 2003" are included in this course. The slides are intended to give pictorial amplification for this course's text and table.
Universal Precautions: The same infection control procedures and barrier techniques are determined by the procedure, and are used on all patients, regardless of their disease state. The procedures are designed to prevent transmission of HIV, HBV, and other bloodborne pathogens in health care settings.
Standard Precautions: A set of combined precautions that include the major components of universal precautions (designed to reduce the risk of transmission of blood borne pathogens) and body substance isolation (designed to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from moist body substances). Similar to universal precautions, standard precautions are used for care of all patients regardless of their diagnoses or personal infectious status.
Critical instruments: Surgical and other instruments used to penetrate soft tissue or bone.
Semi-critical instruments: Surgical and other instruments that are not used to penetrate soft tissue or bone, but contact oral tissue.
Non-critical instruments and devices: Contact intact skin.
Asepsis: Using techniques designed to keep all microorganisms out of the working field and from spreading to other areas.
Disinfectant: A chemical that can be applied on an inanimate object or surface that kills microorganisms.
Antiseptic: A chemical that can be applied on living tissues to kill or inhibit microorganism activity.
Low-level disinfection: The least effective disinfection process, kills some bacteria, viruses and fungi, but does not kill bacterial spores or mycobacterium tuberculosis var bovis, a laboratory test organism used to classify the strength of disinfectant chemicals.
Intermediate-level disinfection: Kills mycobacterium tuberculosis var bovis indicating that many human pathogens are also killed, but does not necessarily kill spores.
High-level disinfection: Kills some, but not necessarily all bacterial spores. This process kills mycobacterium tuberculosis var bovis, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Sterilization: kills all forms of microbial life.
Personal Protective Equipment: Includes items such as gloves, masks, protective eyewear and protective attire (gowns/labcoats) to prevent exposure to blood and body fluids which are intended to prevent exposure to blood and body fluids.
The basic aim of infection control is to reduce the number of pathogenic (disease causing) microbes in the field of operation to a level where the body's normal resistance can prevent infection.
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Kill Microorganisms
