The British Dental Association (BDA) has called for a full review of the evidence base for the HTM 01-05 guidance document on decontamination in dental surgeries.
The BDA has written to the Department of Health (DH) renewing its 2007 call for a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) review of the evidence, after it emerged that three areas of the guidance have already been amended before the document is even printed.
The three changes to the guidance that have already been made are that the use of potable water for the rinse stage of decontamination is now permitted, the period for which instruments can be stored after they have been processed in a validated vacuum sterilizer has been increased from 30 days to 60 days and the requirement for two sinks for decontamination has been revised, to allow the option of two bowls incorporated into a single unit instead.
