Health and Safety

Cross-Infection Control

At Frays Dental Centre we take the health and safety of our patients and staff seriously. We have two clinical leads, Dr. Hitesh Aggarwal and Dr. Charisma Patel, dedicated to maintaining high standards of cleanliness within the practice.

Our cross-infection control policy prevents the transfer of harmful germs from person to person and also from instruments we use. We keep our patients and staff safe by following the latest guidelines and government recommendations - HTM01-05 (Decontamination in Primary Care Dental practices).

Autoclaves

Autoclaves are an effective way of killing germs. All non-disposable instruments, including all dental drills, are placed in an autoclave after every use. Our autoclaves work by using very high temperatures and pressure to kill bacteria, spores and germs resistant to boiling water and powerful detergents. Our autoclaves are regularly serviced and tested.

Each autoclave cycle is checked after every use and a record of the sterilisation cycle is reproducible.

Every instrument is individually checked after being processed in the autoclave. We have an open-door policy for our patients to view our dedicated sterilisation suite.

Chemical Disinfection

Dental chairs and work surfaces cannot be autoclaved. At Frays we use barrier wraps on surfaces and replace them after each patient. The dental chair and surfaces are also fully disinfected after each patient using powerful chemicals which are designed to kill germs.

Gloves and Masks

To prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses a new set of gloves and a fresh face mask is worn for each patient. We also provide our patients with disinfected safety glasses whilst they are being examined or treated.

New Guidelines in Place for Coronavirus

You only need to stay away from public places /cancel your dental appointment if you've been:

• to Hubei province in China in the last 14 days
• to Iran, areas of northern Italy in lockdown or "special care zone" areas in South Korea since 19 February
• to other parts of mainland China or South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath
• to other parts of northern Italy (anywhere north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar since 19 February and have a cough, high temperature or shortness of breath
• in close contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus

Interview Questionnaire

Dear Patients,

We are sure that you are already aware that our routine cross infections measures at the practice are:

1. We ask patients to use the hand gel provided at reception to clean their hands
2. On entering the surgery which has been disinfected prior to your entering, you will then again be required to use hand gel to maintain the level of cross-infection control.
3. All handles and surfaces are thoroughly disinfected prior to and on leaving of each patient
4. Reception areas, handles and surfaces are also disinfected every two hours.

We are additionally asking you to read the following:

Frays Dental Centre Ltd continues to monitor the ongoing situation related to coronavirus and to adapt our actions accordingly following the guidance available from Public Health England, the World Health Organisation. The British government have released new guidance asking that people who have returned from Italy, north of Pisa, should self-quarantine for 14 days if they develop any flu-like symptoms.

In addition, they have advised that anyone who is travelling home from any of the towns on effective lockdown should now self-quarantine for 14 days even if they do not currently have any symptoms. These towns are currently listed as Casalpusterlergo, Codogno, Castigione d’ Adda, Fombio, Maleo, Somalia, Baryonic, Trinova dei Passerini, Castlegerundo and San Fiorana.

Furthermore, anyone who has travelled from Iran, the Hubei province or the special care zones in South Korea must also self-quarantine for 14 days with or without symptoms. The government has also highlighted that people returning from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar should self-quarantine if they develop any symptoms.

Advice relating to other parts of the world previously listed remains in place; this is to ring the NHS helpline on 111 for advice if displaying symptoms. These places are China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.