Disinfection and communication practices: a survey of U.S. dental laboratories

The need to disinfect impressions is crucial to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. The authors report the results of a survey of U.S. dental laboratory directors. The survey was designed to determine how well dental laboratory personnel are communicating with dentists regarding the disinfection of impressions, and, in turn, what laboratory technicians are doing to protect themselves against microbial cross-contamination.

Four hundred dental laboratory directors were selected in a blinded and random manner. To create a geographically representative sample, an equal number of laboratory directors from the East, Midwest and West were interviewed. A survey consisting of 16 open-ended questions was conducted by trained interviewers via 10- to 15-minute telephone interviews. All dental laboratory directors stated that they were thoroughly familiar with their laboratory's disinfection protocol.

The survey documented that the majority of impressions were made of polyvinyl (57 percent) or polyether (27 percent) materials. Only 44 percent of the respondents stated that they knew if the impressions they received had been disinfected. Twenty-three percent of the laboratory directors did not know the method of disinfection used, and 47 percent did not know the length of time involved. Forty-five percent of the respondents reported that they receive inadequate instruction in regard to disinfection techniques. No one class of impression materials was found to be more problematic than others by the laboratory directors.

The results indicate a significant and problematic lack of communication between these team members. The responses also suggested that laboratory-perceived problems with impressions were not linked to any particular type of material, but more to the disinfection technique used.

Lack of communication between dentists, staff members and dental laboratory personnel, along with poor training of laboratory personnel in disinfection techniques, may have a direct effect on the prosthetic results achieved in dental practices.