Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

November 201310 Practice Management United Kingdom Edition Follow us on: Implant Bar & Bridges and more Get a precise and productive tool for designing sophisti- cated implant bars and bridges for both removable and fixed prosthesis.Enjoy also Dentures, New Abutment De- signer™, Post & Core, Orthodontic appliances and much more. TRIOS® Inbox & 3Shape Communicate™ Dental System™ includes free connectivity to TRIOS® systems in dental clinics so labs can receive impression scans directly. Smart communication tools enhance coop- eration with the dentist. Dental System™ offers solutions for labs of any size and business model. The included 3Shape LABcare™ package gives users unlimited upgrades, plus access to online support, and expert training. 3Shape Dental System™ The professional CAD/CAM system for dental labs 4 x 5.0 MP Cameras RealColor™D900 Scanner with RealColor™ technology Four high-res 5MP cameras provide extraordinary speed and highly accurate color scanning. Capture all textures and colors such as color markings on the model. The per- fect scanner for high volume productive-orientated labs. Stay up to date with the latest news, product announcements, special offers, articles, and more Sign up for our newsletter – Digital Trends Scan the QR code to register. About the author Jane Armitage is an award-winning practice manager and has almost 40 years indus- try experience. She is currently a practice manager for Thompson & Thomas, and holds a Vocational Assessors award. She is also a BDA Good Practice Assessor, BDA Good Practice Regional Consult- ant, and has a BDA Certificate of Merit for services to the profession. She has her own company, JA Team Training, offering a practice management con- sultancy service, which includes on- site assistance covering all aspects of practice management with a pathway if required for managers to take their qualification in dental prac- tice management. If you’ve any mem- ories of the early 1970s or any specific choices of topics you’d like addressed, call Jane on 01142 343346 or email ja- nearm@tiscali.co.uk. I have now been on treatment for a year and can’t wait until I can come off. I have since had nega- tive results and my x-ray is clear but I will have to remain on the drug regime as if there are any stray MAC bugs they will multiply and I will become very ill again. The Consultant was impressed with how I had tolerated the treat- ment as many throw the towel in before completion. Several times that thought had crossed my mind, but I wanted rid; I wanted to be me again. My reasons for sharing this information is to ask you all to be aware that this can come from sprayed water, so please ensure your water lines are cleaned with one of the many waterline cleans- er/disinfectants manufactured. Biofilms form rapidly on den- tal unit waterlines. The majority of the organisms in the biofilm are harmless environmental spe- cies, but some dental units may harbour opportunistic respiratory pathogens. Effective infection control is one of the cornerstones of good practice and clinical governance. Due to a combination of negative publicity and an increased sci- entific knowledge of dental unit waterlines (DUWL) biofilms and their associated risks, contamina- tion of dental unit waterlines has become a prominent infection- control issue. Ref: Primary Dental Care 2003 Flushing the waterlines for two minutes at the start of the day and for 20-30 seconds between patients reduces the bacterial count but in DUWL where this method is used as the sole means of water quality management flushing is unlikely to provide wa- ter of drinking water standard i.e. with a total bacterial count of 100 cfu /mL, nor will flushing remove the biofilm. However, in dental units, which are not drained down at night, flushing at the start of the day will help to reduce the bacterial load caused by over- night water stagnation. Flushing between patients helps to prevent cross contamination by remov- ing any suck-back of oral fluids that have bypassed the anti-re- traction valve. It is recommended to use biocides to control the biofilm by daily draining down and cleaning of the waterlines to reduce bio- film build up. The biocide (disin- fectant) can be introduced with a pressurised pump or via an inde- pendent reservoir bottle. I didn’t catch my illness from our water lines but since I have been ill the people around me have looked not only at their water lines but at their cleaning methods at home. Many have changed their shower heads so often that I’m thinking of asking for commission. The Health & Safety Exec and the Dept of Health have is- sued guidance for the treatment of DUWL. I urge you all to en- sure these means of testing and cleansing the water lines are car- ried out. A risk assessment for managing water lines should also be carried out. I would also advise you to look at your home, clean the shower- heads, and run the shower for a couple of minutes before use. I have been unfortunate. Don’t let this opportunistic patho- gen into your life. DT ‘I would also advise you to look at your home, clean the showerheads, and run the shower for a couple of minutes before use.’ page 8DTß