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Advice for dentists on re-use of endodontic instruments and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
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Document type:Dear colleague letter
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Author:Department of Health
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Published date:19 April 2007
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Primary audience:Doctors and consultants, Health and social care professionals
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Gateway reference:8100
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Pages:4
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Copyright holder:Crown
This letter from the Chief Dental Officer (England) clarifies the situation with regard to decontamination and re-use of instruments, especially those used in endodontic treatment, in the context of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). It contains revised advice that dentists are expected to follow.
Dentists are advised to ensure that:
- Endodontic reamers and files are treated as single use,
- The highest standards of decontamination are observed for all dental instruments,
- Manufacturers’ decontamination instructions are followed for all instruments, and where instruments are difficult to clean, single use instruments should be used wherever possible.
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