Sanitary-Epidemiological and Infection-Control Requirements in Dentistry
Sanitary-epidemiological and infection-control rules protect patients and staff in a setting with blood, saliva and aerosols. The exam tests classification of instruments, reprocessing steps and documentation.
Core controls
- Hand hygiene; PPE appropriate to the procedure; separate clean and dirty zones.
- Critical instruments (surgical, endodontic, implant) must be cleaned, disinfected, packaged, sterilized and stored so sterility is maintained; semicritical items require high-level disinfection or sterilization according to the rules.
- Sharps handling, spill management, hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure protocols; validated sterilizers with cycle records; waterline and suction maintenance; waste segregation.
Worked example
After an implant placement, the assistant rinses the surgical kit and places it in a UV cabinet. That is not sterilization. The correct route is cleaning, disinfection, packaging with indicators, autoclaving under validated parameters, and logging the cycle, with sterile storage until use.
Traps
Boiling or 'cold sterilization' for critical items; using a sterilizer without biological or chemical controls; no reprocessing log; wearing the same gloves for multiple patients; treating disposable items as reusable; ignoring aerosol extraction.