#21 in a series

Practicing proper infection control procedures is the responsibility of every student, staff and faculty member with clinical responsibilities. With the fast-paced nature of the clinical environment, it is sometimes easy to overlook basic infection control policies. To help raise awareness about these issues, we've created this series of infection control reminders and pointers. For questions about infection control policies or more information, contact the School of Dentistry's Director of Health and Safety, Dr. Molly Newlon at: newlonm@dentistry.ucsf.edu.

The use of heat-sensitive patient care items and liquid chemical sterilants is discouraged for several reasons:

• Chemical germicide fumes irritate the skin, mucous membranes and respiratory tissues
  
  
• Chemical sterilization cannot be verified with biological indicators
  
  
• Items that have been chemically sterilized must be rinsed with sterile water, dried with sterile towels and transported chairside in a manner that assures sterility

Sterilizing instruments using liquid germicides may require 12 hours of complete immersion without introduction of additional instruments into the solution.

Best regards,

Charles N. Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc

Dean