The disinfection of dental chair suction systems

This dental nurse-led clinical audit initiative aimed to improve practices of disinfection of dental chair suction systems at the ­Dental Directorate of Guys Hospital, London. The audit was conducted with approval after spotting some staff using incorrect dosages of disinfectants. Three standards were chosen including preliminary cleaning, daily disinfection and weekly disinfection. Two sets of cross-sectional data were prospectively collected by observation and interviews of 30 randomly selected staff and dental students using a purposively devised questionnaire. Findings showed only seven per cent initial compliance with responses of 28 respondents deviating in at least one of three standards. Non-compliant practices include unnecessary use, over-use, wrong concentration, incorrect amount and incorrect order of disinfection. Reasons include lack of official protocol, confusing design of the ­dosing cup, the ­poor interest of dental students and difficult human behaviour and attitude issues including negligence, unwillingness, resistance to change and fear factors. Three interventions: nurses’ re-orientation, devising a ­simplified poster and a­ nurse-led support system implemented for three weeks. These resulted in the achievement of 90 per cent compliance in post-intervention data. Further actions required for sustaining achieved progress are discussed.