Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987

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Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling

Sterilisation being done by other means

MORE tm'tnimirt and arhoo! dental clinic* are sterilising instrument* with high-pressure steam, chemicals or hot-air ovens instead of with boiling water

The change has been taking place daring the past year under s Health Ministry programme to ensure that dental instrument* are totally germ tree. The programme is expected to be completed soon

Private dental clinics, on the ocher hand, have been slow to change

Dr Mm Elliot, who spoke at a masting of dental surgeons over the weekend, said H k believed that almost half of all dental surgeons still boil their liiniiiwiils

The risk in not autoclsvtng. or using hot air ovens with tern-peratures up lo ISO ueg C, is that some Hepatitis B or Aids virus nay not be destroyed. Some spores are resistant to heat and sometimes boiling doss sot destroy them.

With shout ldO.OOO Hepatitis B carriers in Slags pore, or 5-5 per cent of the population, dentists could become agents of infection if they use poorly sterilised instruments Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver and can Mad to com dons such as cancer of the. The virus is found in the body fluid* and secretions of a carrier and can be passetl on through sexual contact and font am ins led blood The dental clinic at the National University Hospital has already fully converted to auta claving and the hot air method As a further precaution against infection, many disposable items are ussd. like needles. cups, salivary electors (to drain out saliva during treatment), and suction tips.

Private dentists who are slow to change cite two reasons — practicality and cost.

A dentist la private practice said: "In autoc Living, or stertl-ising with high-pressure steam, the Instruments must be abk to withstand the pressure and temperature. Over time, these could damage the delicate hand

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"It is also difficult to recover the cost spent on these units because we want to keep our fees low."

Another said: "Bolling of instruments is still practical for non-surgical operations, such as ruling teeth, where the likelihood of contamination Is not great

"But when it comes to surgeries, the Instruments will have to be 100 per cent sterile."

Two others said the switch to autoclavtng cannot be done overnight because of the cost.

However, one dental surgeon with a clinic hi town felt that In terms of hygiene for himself and his patients, buying as autoclave and hot air oven was worthwhile.

He bought them a few years ago for about 14.500 bu: then had to raise his fees by between 2 and 5 per cent.

=See also=
 * HIV/AIDS in Singapore
 * Archive of "Three in S’pore found with Aids-linked virus", The Straits Times, 10 April 1985
 * Archive of "Aids virus: Doctor who 'found it'", The Sunday Times, 14 April 1985
 * Archive of "Special lab to do Aids tests soon", The Straits Times, 18 May 1985
 * Archive of "Man with Aids related virus in hospital", The Straits Times, 21 July 1985
 * Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986
 * Archive of "Aids claims first victim here", The Straits Times, 11 April 1987
 * Archive of "Fear of Aids pushes up condom sales", The Straits Times, 19 April 1987
 * Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987
 * HIV/AIDS in Singapore's LGBT community
 * Paddy Chew
 * Avin Tan
 * Ajmal Khan
 * Calvin Tan
 * Adrian Tyler

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=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.