Dental Surgery Fit-Out Series: Decontamination Areas

At Eclipse Dental the surgery is the most requested design and refurbishment space we receive, and as the heart of the dental practice the environment needs to reduce anxiety for patients undergoing treatment, as well as providing pleasant and operationally effective working conditions, complying with regulations and be easy to clean.

The design of the surgery should incorporate some very important aspects to achieve a harmonious balance of personal preference, aesthetics and functionality.

This series of videos will examine the main areas of consideration in more detail and suggest possible options. We ended the last video inferring the need for infection control, compliance and possibly even decontamination activities within the surgery. So we will follow on from there.

The method of separating the ‘decontamination activities’ from ‘patient consultation’ within the surgery is called Temporal Separation.

This area would have to include a dedicated sink or two, regular disinfection of surfaces and adequate ventilation / air extraction. The process should be carried out by ensuring that a dirty- to-clean workflow is maintained.

We have often achieved this by separating the area with partitioning or a glass screen, as demonstrated by Norfolk Square Dental Practice. The cabinetry design was optimised for functionality and a modern appearance.

Wembley High Street dental surgery was limited in size and the challenge was to find space for all the necessary equipment and cabinetry. Our solution was to create a decontamination room with panels rather than partitioning to save space. We managed to achieve separate rooms and still have a workable surgery and a compliant decontamination room.

Just to round off this series of videos regarding the fit-out of dental surgeries I would like to mention that in some cases a building contractor will be employed for larger construction works, which would mean that we would have to co-ordinate our work with them.

We have successfully achieved this on many occasions as well as working with architects and specialist designers when the client has requested this.

When Kent Smile Studio in Chatham renovated the whole building with an extension and an additional first floor we were asked to fit-out and equip their 3 surgeries, the decontamination room and plant machine room.

This involved many of the aspects mentioned in these videos. We supplied and installed Belmont treatment centres, redesigned the layout of their cabinetry which was bespoke for their surgeries and created a much lighter environment to improve working conditions and patient experience.

As a dental refurbishment company, we have a highly trained and experienced team of specialist builders, electricians and plumbers which is critical for the optimum performance of a dental practice design. We offer a no-obligation site consultation service and this can include knowledge and advice on how to renovate and revolutionise your existing practice.

Thank you for following along and I hope you have found these videos insightful and maybe even given you some ideas of how you would like to make some changes to your surgery.

For more information from an infection control advisor, speak to Sandra Smith at infectioncontrolspecialists.com.