How dental clinics sterilise instruments, and what to ask

Infection control is one of the things you can't judge from a website or a before-and-after photo. It is also one of the easiest things to ask about.

What good practice looks like

After each patient, reusable instruments are cleaned to remove debris, packed into sealed pouches, and sterilised in an autoclave, a machine that uses pressurised steam. They stay sealed until they're needed. Items such as needles, saliva ejectors and many burs and files are single-use and thrown away after one patient.

The surfaces around the chair, including the light handle and the tray, are wiped down or covered with disposable barriers between patients.

What you can see for yourself

• The dentist or assistant opens sealed instrument pouches in front of you.
• Staff change gloves between patients, and wear masks and eye protection.
• Single-use items come out of sealed packaging.

What to ask the clinic

• Can I see where instruments are cleaned and sterilised?
• How do you check that the autoclave is working properly, and how often?
• Which items are single-use?

On VietDentalTrip, "Sterilisation process shown" on a clinic's profile means the clinic showed us this process, including its autoclave records. Read how we verify clinics for what each check covers.