Chinook Family Dental Care — Dental Health and Safety

Sterilization Area

We Value You & Your Families Safety!

At Chinook Family Dental Care your dental health and safety is important to us.  Now more than ever, patients have questions about their risk for infection when they visit a health care practitioner of any kind.  Our goal is to exceed the Alberta Dental Association and Canadian Dental Association safety and sterilization guidelines, with the use of hospital-grade sterilization equipment and by following strict sterilization practices.

All of our dental practitioners wear non-latex gloves, face masks, and protective eyewear for every appointment.  We use disposable products as much as possible and sterilize tools that are not disposable.

Our Sterilization Practices

Autoclave (pressurized steam):  All dental instruments and hand pieces (drills) are sterilized in a high-pressure steam autoclave after each use.  This process is the standard of care.  Our computerized autoclave warns us in the event of an incomplete sterilization cycle, and we have protocols in place to correct such issues immediately.  As an added precaution, we also use an external biological indicator test to ensure that our autoclave is functioning properly and producing sterile instruments.

Surface Decontamination:  All surfaces including countertops, dental chairs, stools, light handles, and control buttons are disinfected with chemical solutions before and after every patient.  These solutions are formulated to eliminate infectious bacteria and viruses that could otherwise proliferate on these surfaces.  The chemicals themselves pose no health threat to our patients.

Disposable Items:  Many of the items we use today are discarded after a single use.  These items include saliva ejectors, high-speed suction tips, drinking cups, rubber cleaning cups, patient bibs, tray covers, sterilization bags, mixing pads, mixing tips, anesthetic carpules, and needle tips, among others.  Gloves and masks are also discarded after each use.

If you have any questions regarding our dental health and safety procedures, please do not hesitate to ask us at your next visit or contact us directly at (403) 252-3978!