A dental chair can look spotless. The bracket tray can be wiped. The light handles can appear perfectly clean.
But looking clean and being effectively disinfected are not the same thing.
One of the most easily overlooked parts of environmental disinfection is also one of the simplest:
Contact time.
The wipe is only part of the process
When we use a disinfectant wipe, it is tempting to think that the physical action of wiping the surface completes the disinfection process.
It doesn’t.
The disinfectant must be used according to the manufacturer’s Instructions for Use (IFU), including the specified application and contact time. Australian healthcare standards also emphasise using cleaning and disinfection products consistently with manufacturers’ instructions.
If the manufacturer’s instructions require a surface to remain visibly wet for a particular period, simply wiping the surface and allowing it to dry before that time has elapsed does not demonstrate that the product has been used as intended.
This is why every dental team should know the requirements of the actual product sitting in their surgery.
Where does AS/NZS 5369:2023 fit?
AS/NZS 5369:2023 – Reprocessing of reusable medical devices and other devices in health and non-health related facilities establishes requirements for the effective and safe reprocessing, storage, handling and transportation of reusable medical devices and other devices.
An important distinction needs to be made here:
Environmental surface disinfection and RMD reprocessing are not interchangeable processes.
AS/NZS 5369:2023 is particularly relevant to the cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation of reusable medical devices. The ADA’s current IPC guidance notes that surface disinfectants and disinfectant wipes are intended for environmental surfaces and patient equipment—not for reprocessing dental instruments and handpieces. Conversely, instrument disinfectants should not simply be used as environmental surface disinfectants.
That distinction matters.
- Right product.
- Right purpose.
- Right process.
- Right contact time.
Cleaning comes before effective disinfection
Another common mistake is expecting disinfectant to compensate for inadequate cleaning.
Cleaning removes contamination and organic material so that the subsequent disinfection process can work effectively. Australian IPC guidance reinforces the principle that reusable devices must be adequately cleaned before disinfection and that cleaning agents and methods must be appropriate for their intended purpose and used according to manufacturer instructions.
For environmental surfaces, practices should follow the product label/IFU and their documented environmental cleaning procedure, including any requirement for pre-cleaning when visible contamination is present.
Why does contact time get missed?
This is where infection prevention becomes more than a technical issue.
Most dental professionals understand what contact time means.
The problem is often workflow.
- A patient leaves.
- The room needs to be turned over.
- Another patient is waiting.
- The dental assistant starts cleaning.
- The surface is wiped.
- It looks clean
- Everyone moves on.
There is no alarm telling you the required contact time wasn’t achieved.
There is no obvious visual difference between a correctly disinfected surface and one where the product was not used according to its IFU.
That makes this a systems issue, not simply a knowledge issue.
The Within Control challenge
This week, choose the disinfectant used in your clinical areas and ask your team three questions:
- What is the manufacturer’s required contact time and application method?
- When we use it in real clinical conditions, are we actually meeting those requirements?
- Does our room-turnover workflow allow staff to use the product correctly every patient, every time?
Then observe one room turnover.
Don’t just audit whether the surface was wiped.
Audit the process.
Because good infection prevention isn’t demonstrated by how quickly a room looks clean.
It’s demonstrated by whether the correct process is consistently achievable in the real world.
Within Control
Infection prevention is not just knowing the standard. It’s turning the standard, the evidence and the manufacturer’s instructions into everyday practice.