Respiratory Etiquette and Sharps Handling

Respiratory etiquette

We had seen till now –

Why is infection control important?
What are the guidelines of NABH, CDC?
And how can you protect yourself and your staffs?

Now, we will talk about two things –

RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE
HOW TO HANDLE SHARP

RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE –

This is very important. Respiratory diseases spread very quickly. You must have noticed that if one person suffers from cold then the other people who will come in contact with him also get infected.

So, one such patient can make your entire clinic sick and can give you dangerous diseases like tuberculosis and corona. To stop this, first you have to train your staff.

Your front desk staff must be that much educated so that he can detect such patients and can take precautions.
There should be a sign board in your waiting area that if a patient is suffering from cough then he can ask for mask.
Mask and tissue papers should be available in the waiting area and there should be a dustbin too for disposing them.
Hand sanitizer should also be offered to the patients.
If you can, design your clinic in such a way that it is ventilated.

If tuberculosis patient is there in your clinic then you follow these kinds of guidelines –

Postpone treatment if possible till 4 months of medication.
Limit use of ultra sonic hand piece and high speed hand piece which can make aerosol.
100% of high volume section is necessary.
If possible use rubber dam.
Maintain proper hand hygiene and wear all PPE.
Use respirator like N95.
If proper ventilation is not possible, open your doors to dilute the contamination.
Regular fumigation and use of anti-bacterial spray.
Use barrier technique.

Now, let’s see next that how most injuries take place in dental clinic.

You guessed it right, from sharp instrument. Here, sharp instrument is not only needle but it also means all those things which can penetrate your skin. Like – needle, BP blade, probe, orthodontic wires, endodontic files, scalier tips, etc.

If you too are careless like me, then almost all of these things would have pricked you or more than that.
If I am hurt by all this, it only means I am careless. There is nothing like prize in it.
I could have some serious disease.

So today we will talk about how to handle these sharps.

The most important thing is education. Your assistant must know which of things are sharp and can create problem.
We have talked about safe needle practices in our previous video.
Once the procedure is over we used to take out instruments in the cleaning area.
Then you have to wear heavy duty gloves.
Here, at first we have to separate the instruments into sharp and non-sharp.
At first let’s take BP handle but remember you don’t have to touch sharp ends from bare hands.
BP blade removers also come in market but we will remove it from suture forceps.
Disguised the blade in sharp rigid container.
Next thing we should look for sharp instruments like explorer curettes.
Hold each of the sharp instruments once not together and clean it with brush.
Throw the small sharps like orthodontic wire, bent endodontic file into rigid container.
And lastly, bun & files should be cleaned separately and kept in the box and put it in the ultrasonic.
Now, how you have to sterilize it, I will tell you in the next video in the video of sterilization process of critical instruments.
Now, the sharp instruments which you have collected in rigid box, there should be a proper label on it. Most of the times these boxes are of red or blue color.
Later on you will give this box to bio waste.

GDS Dental

Respiratory etiquette

We had seen till now –

Why is infection control important?

What are the guidelines of NABH, CDC?

And how can you protect yourself and your staffs?

Now, we will talk about two things –

RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE

HOW TO HANDLE SHARP

RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE –

This is very important. Respiratory diseases spread very quickly. You must have noticed that if one person suffers from cold then the other people who will come in contact with him also get infected.

So, one such patient can make your entire clinic sick and can give you dangerous diseases like tuberculosis and corona. To stop this, first you have to train your staff.

Your front desk staff must be that much educated so that he can detect such patients and can take precautions.

There should be a sign board in your waiting area that if a patient is suffering from cough then he can ask for mask.

Mask and tissue papers should be available in the waiting area and there should be a dustbin too for disposing them.

Hand sanitizer should also be offered to the patients.

If you can, design your clinic in such a way that it is ventilated.

If tuberculosis patient is there in your clinic then you follow these kinds of guidelines –

Postpone treatment if possible till 4 months of medication.

Limit use of ultra sonic hand piece and high speed hand piece which can make aerosol.

100% of high volume section is necessary.

If possible use rubber dam.

Maintain proper hand hygiene and wear all PPE.

Use respirator like N95.

If proper ventilation is not possible, open your doors to dilute the contamination.

Regular fumigation and use of anti-bacterial spray.

Use barrier technique.

Now, let’s see next that how most injuries take place in dental clinic.

You guessed it right, from sharp instrument. Here, sharp instrument is not only needle but it also means all those things which can penetrate your skin. Like – needle, BP blade, probe, orthodontic wires, endodontic files, scalier tips, etc.

If you too are careless like me, then almost all of these things would have pricked you or more than that.

If I am hurt by all this, it only means I am careless. There is nothing like prize in it.

I could have some serious disease.

So today we will talk about how to handle these sharps.

The most important thing is education. Your assistant must know which of things are sharp and can create problem.

We have talked about safe needle practices in our previous video.

Once the procedure is over we used to take out instruments in the cleaning area.

Then you have to wear heavy duty gloves.

Here, at first we have to separate the instruments into sharp and non-sharp.

At first let’s take BP handle but remember you don’t have to touch sharp ends from bare hands.

BP blade removers also come in market but we will remove it from suture forceps.

Disguised the blade in sharp rigid container.

Next thing we should look for sharp instruments like explorer curettes.

Hold each of the sharp instruments once not together and clean it with brush.

Throw the small sharps like orthodontic wire, bent endodontic file into rigid container.

And lastly, bun & files should be cleaned separately and kept in the box and put it in the ultrasonic.

Now, how you have to sterilize it, I will tell you in the next video in the video of sterilization process of critical instruments.

Now, the sharp instruments which you have collected in rigid box, there should be a proper label on it. Most of the times these boxes are of red or blue color.

Later on you will give this box to bio waste.

THANK YOU….a