Practical Infection Control: The What, The Why and the How

Infection control guidelines and standards tell you WHAT needs to be done, but they often leave out the crucial HOW.

This practical, hands-on workshop is designed to help you implement the latest Australian Infection Control guidelines and standards with confidence and tackle the specific challenges of infection prevention in your practice.  

We’ll take a deep dive into essential areas like personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene, and instrument sterilisation – breaking down each process to a practical, easy-to-understand level. You’ll gain the skills needed to provide optimal patient care while staying compliant with current regulations.

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Learning Objectives

1. Understand the latest standards, guidelines, and best practices.  
2. Explore best practices for PPE and hand hygiene, with real-world tips on practical implementation.  
3. Understanding the four water streams with respect to infection control and how to test them
   • Dental Unit Waterlines testing for CFU
   • Wash Water (Hardness and Chloride (basic strip tests available)
   • Final Rinse Water – lab testing
   • Steriliser Feed water testing – lab testing
4. Selecting your daily Air Removal Steam Penetration test (ISO11140-6) and daily performance testing. What tests are there and why do we do them?
5. Master the step-by-step process of instrument reprocessing, including sterilisation, in a way that’s easy to apply in your daily routine.  
6. Validation – what is it, what’s changed since AS4815 and what is required now.
7. Participate in a Q&A session, addressing your specific challenges.

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Practical Component

Get up close and personal with autoclaves and sterilisation equipment on display. Learn how they work and how to maintain them effectively, ensuring the highest level of infection control in your practice.

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This course is suitable for the whole dental team involved in infection control. All Dentists and DCAs should attend.

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Dr Franklin has been working in the dental industry just on 30 years. She is a dentist, trainer and teacher of dental assistants, a writer of educational materials, and a passionate infection pre¬vention and control consultant. She was recently nominated at a ‘fellow’ at the International College of Dentists, and was lead author for the chapter devoted to infection control in dental settings in the book Healthcare-Associated Infections in Australia: Principles and Practice of Infection Prevention and Control.

She is a member of the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control, a registered dental practitioner with the Dental Board of Australian, member of the Australian Dental Association (ADA) and past ADA Western Australian branch councillor.  She has completed further education through post-graduate studies in infection prevention and control which allows her to stay ahead of the curve.

Her passion lies in simplifying the overwhelming amount of information surrounding infection control and translating it into practical and applicable solutions.

Steve has been working on medical equipment both hands on and in management roles for 22 years and in the dental sector for the past 17 years. He is responsible for training technicians across Australia and New Zealand on validation, installation, servicing and repairs of sterilisation and disinfection equipment. Steve has served as the WA President for the ADIA and is actively involved with industry peak bodies and associations relating to the ongoing evolution of infection control standards and guidelines. Prior to working in infection control, Steve was working on renal dialysis water treatment systems and electrical instrumentation and this experience has been extremely useful during the rollout of AS5369:2023 with respect to autoclave steam quality, wash water, dental unit waterlines and final rinse water to support dental practice teams on testing and treatment options.