Decontamination in primary care dental practices - Gov.uk

Decontamination: Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 – Decontamination in primary care dental practices (2013 edition)18 The use of lubricants18.1 Lubricants, usually in aerosol form, are often usedduring the decontamination and preparationprocess. This is often required by the manufacturerin order to lengthen the working life of someinstruments. Such instructions should be followed.Any doubts about the relevance of theseinstructions should be checked and confirmed inwriting by the manufacturer.18.2 It should be noted that using lubricants willinevitably introduce oils into a process designed toremove contamination. Where water is reused inthe sterilizer, this contamination may build upwithin the reservoir and the sterilizer chamber.However, this effect will be limited if guidancegiven in this document requiring that water bechanged at least once per day is carefully applied.18.3 There is a limited conflict betweendecontamination and the use of lubricant.If lubrication is practised in accordance withmanufacturers’ instructions, the consequence ofthis recontamination should be assessed. Thisassessment will require consultation with theequipment manufacturer or service agent whomshould be asked to approve the choice of lubricantused.66