Dental practice hygiene at the International Dental Show (IDS) 2017 in Cologne: fast, multi-faceted, individual

Hygiene and infection control belong to the core competences of the dentist and his team and the theme constantly remains up-to-date - the adaptability of many potential pathogenic microorganisms makes sure of that. The International Dental Show (IDS) from 21 to 25 March 2017 in Cologne shows current hygiene concepts and innovations for dental practices - a unique opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview while doing an informative tour of the exhibition halls.

In addition to the updated recommendations of the Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI), which reflect the scientific development, a complex conglomerate of further hygiene norms and standards have to be observed in the dental practice: the Medical Devices Act (MPG), the Medical Device Operators Directive (MPBetriebV), the work health and safety regulations of the employer's liability insurance association, as well as the law on the prevention and combating of infectious disease among humans (IfSG). Furthermore, these measures are continually updated. For example, a current adaption of the IfSG stipulates: With immediate effect, it is obligatory to promptly notify the health authorities of antibiotic-resistant pathogens as soon as they have been detected (as soon as they have colonised the human body instead of when the disease has actually broken out), the detection of arboviruses in the laboratory (i.e. the Zika virus) now also has to be reported.

Support from the industry and associations

Fortunately, the dental practices have strong partners to assist them in fulfilling their duty in implementing existing and new regulations. Among others, the sample hygiene plan compiled by the German Dental Association and the German Working Committee for Hygiene in Dental Practices (DAHZ) provides valuable assistance. Support also comes in the form of the manifold offers of the chambers and statutory health insurance dentists or external providers. The individual statutory health insurance dentists are responsible for controlling the implementation.

Particularly the companies of the dental industry specialised in this field support the consistent hygiene management in the dental practice. The disinfection and cleaning of hands, surfaces, instruments and special areas - everything will be covered at IDS. Including the latest hardware and software products as well as a host of high-quality consumables.

Because the trade associations, industry and specialised service providers took advantage of the afore-mentioned support, the introduction of the internal quality management systems in the dental practices ran very smoothly - a decisive trend of the past years. As is commonly known, QMS constitutes the documentation of already existing descriptions of work processes and standard work instructions including the hygiene plan. Whereby, quite understandably, independent to the QMS introduction, hygiene was always and will remain to be an important element of the professional practice of dentists.

Fast over the whole of the surface - closed loop system of instruments

At the moment, it is above all the small assistants that achieve a big effect in the area of surface hygiene.

Special universally applicable wipes that only require a low alcohol content ensure the fast disinfection of non-invasive medical devices and are especially suitable for sensitive electronic devices. This does justice to the increased implementation of touchscreens, displays, keyboards and even mobile phones ("visual aids for the patients"). And the combination of "ready-to-use products - the fast drying of the disinfected surface" saves the hygiene team valuable time.

Increased safety is achieved by using cold nebulising systems. Their active ingredients are for example hydrogen peroxide and silver ions. Advantage: The biocides penetrate every niche, whereby sufficient effectiveness is guaranteed on the sprayed surfaces even if small impurities are at hand (i.e. through proteins).

New opportunities are also being offered in terms of work protection: Special preparations for the manual cleaning and fully virucide disinfection of sensitive materials (i.e. silicon, polycarbonate, polysulfone and acrylic glass) are available in the form of granules - no dust, no inhalation risk, higher user safety.

Furthermore, such granules are suitable for implementation in the ultrasonic bath. Dental instruments pass through it to clean and disinfect them, as an alternative to manual cleaning in the immersion bath. In addition, special devices allow the fully automatic "preparation at the touch of a button" (thermal disinfector/RDG). Advanced devices can be hooked up to the practice network and software, which facilitates the documentation. The approval, labelling and tracking of the disinfection process is thus carried out fast and safely. Models of renowned manufacturers can also particularly be recommended for the preparation of handpieces because of the material-friendly way they work.

Various tailor-made practice autoclaves are suitable for the sterilisation step. Advanced models can also be integrated into the documentation software. Furthermore, some of the models allow the unpacked instruments to be extracted after a few minutes and the packed ones take just slightly longer (bicameral technology).

Different systems are available for the sterile packaging, for example DIN EN ISO 11607-2 certified rotary sealers. In addition to the integration into the documentation system of the practice, the sterilisation process can be recorded with labels imprinted with the essential data - ready for the next use. The instrument loop ultimately closes here. At IDS the complete offering can be examined during the tour and thus several important investment decisions for one's own practice can be made.

Disinfecting hands: versatile and individual

Whereas when disinfecting the surfaces and instruments the priorities are a safe effect and being gentle on the material, of course the same is true to an even greater extent for the most important and most sensitive "instruments" of the dentist and his team: their hands. Modern gel-like substances do both at once: disinfection and hand care - what's more without a "greasy feeling", while at the same time avoiding "dripping". At the same time, the latter attribute allows a particularly economic application. Furthermore, numerous products with a different haptic feel and aroma are available.

"Practice hygiene is an individual theme. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the legislators demand a hygiene plan tailor-made to suit the respective practice. For this reason, modern hygiene concepts can be adapted to match a multitude of scenarios. One can best decide which way is the correct way here, after taking a good look around the International Dental Show - ideally together with the whole team," is how Dr. Martin Rickert, Chairman of the Association of the German Dental Manufacturers e.V. (VDDI), explained the advantages of the largest dental trade fair in the world.

IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.

100 years of VDDI

The VDDI is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. It was founded as the Association of German Dental Manufacturers on 24 June 1916 and organised the first Dental Show in 1923. In 1928 the VDDF organised the first International Dental Show. Today the VDDI has 200 member companies with 20,000 employees. The overall turnover is more than Euro 5 billion with an export share of 62 percent.