Lorne Park Dental is a busy place with a lot going on behind the scenes to prepare for your visit. Before you enter the building, please be assured that infection prevention & control is a top priority and that a clean environment with sterile instruments is waiting for you.
Reception Area:
Our fresh reception area is clean and bright. You're welcome to use the hand sanitizer that is provided. Face masks are available for you to use in case of a cough. We're happy to assist you in rescheduling an appointment if you feel unwell.
All surfaces are regularly wiped and cleaned with particular attention paid to the children's corner and all the toys and fun things that are in it.
Treatment Rooms:
All of our Lorne Park Dental treatment rooms have been recently renovated with new equipment and cabinetry. Our infection control protocol follows 'Routine Practices' for all of our patients.
- Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) Infection Prevention and Control in the Dental Office and the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO) Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) Guidelines documents are followed.
- Hard and soft surfaces such as phones, cabinetry, lights, sinks, switches and chairs are treated with an effective 0.5% hydrogen peroxide disinfectant, OPTIM 33TB.
- Suction lines are flushed with water. Water lines are run between every patient. Enzymatic solutions are used through our water lines daily.
- Single use plastic barriers are used on computer keyboards, computer mouse, light handles, headrests, chair controls, digital x-ray sensors, all drills, suction, air/water devices, etc.
- Single use items such as bibs, cups, the saliva vacuum and toothpaste polishing cup are used.
- Instruments, including handpieces (dental drills) are sterilized in a steam under pressure autoclave which kills all infectious material. You'll see us open the sterilization bags immediately prior to use, just for you.
- Each bag of sterilized instruments has a number assigned to it which is logged and written in your chart so we know which instruments were used in your mouth.
- Sanitized sunglasses are provided to protect your eyes.
- Hands are carefully washed according to Public Health Department recommendations.
- Our team wears face masks and new gloves for every patient.
- Our uniforms are freshly washed. We wear street clothes when we leave the office.
- We pay particular attention to how we touch things in order to avoid cross-contamination.
- We regularly and thoroughly review our infection control procedures to ensure that what we are doing is consistent and highly-effective.
- We have two Infection Control Coordinators to assist us and oversee our infection prevention & control procedures.
How do we know the sterilizer is working properly?
- Mechanical Monitoring - Gauges and readouts are checked and logged for proper temperature and pressure for every sterilizer load.
- Chemical Monitoring - Colour change indicators on instrument bags show that acceptable high heat and pressure sterilizing conditions have been met.
- Biological Monitoring - Spore tests are done by placing a vial that contains living spores through a regular sterilizer cycle. The vial is then checked in the office to ensure that the sterilizer is working properly.
