We are committed to providing you with a safe environment and as part of our commitment to patient education, we thought that some information about our sterilization procedures may be of interest to you. Sterilization is a high priority in our office, and we exceed the highest standards.

Each of our instruments and hand pieces undergo thorough sterilization, as well as a process called "autoclaving" which uses heat and pressure. For quality assurance purposes, our autoclave device is checked weekly to verify proper sterilization. We use the following steps to achieve the most thorough and complete sterilization.

• Barrier Controls: We follow the standard of the American Dental Association and the Center for Disease Control.
• Our staff wears new masks, new gloves and protective eye wear for each patient.
• Sealed Autoclave Bags: Instruments and drills are enclosed with temperature/time sensitive paper which changes color when sterilization is achieved with color indicators to verify sterilization.
• Disposal: Using disposable whenever possible also helps us to provide you with the highest quality of care. All syringe needles, unit dose anesthetics and suction tips are disposed of immediately after each individual patient procedure.
• Dental Equipment: Our dental equipment does not retract fluids. This system uses filters to ensure fresh, non-contaminated water.
• Disinfectants: All disinfectants are approved by the American Dental Association for the counters and other surfaces.

As always, we are committed to providing you with the highest quality of care. Additionally, conforming to the highest standards of sterilization is just part of our commitment to serving you. If you have any questions or would like a tour of our sterilization area, please do not hesitate to ask us.