There is a risk of many diseases being transmitted in the dental surgery. Some are common and of little consequence to most patients; others may be more serious and possibly fatal. It is estimated that a clinical operator will come into contact with an unidentified carrier of Hepatitis C (HBC) or Hepatitis B virus (HBV) once a month (or one in a thousand patients).
Therefore, with the number of people and staff that pass through the dental practice on a daily basis and the range of equipment and types of treatments carried out, the potential for cross infection in the dental practice is high.
To minimise or eliminate cross infection in dental practices, rigorous standards and procedures must be implemented and adopted.