A practice of firsts and high standards in Kuwait

  Posted by: Dental Design      1st June 2018

Eschmann exploring infection control in different countries

Dr Praveen Chandra L.P details a day in the life as a senior dentist and associate in Maidan Clinic – Sharq branch, Kuwait, where he’s been for 15 years. Dr Praveen graduated in 1992 with a BDS degree from the University of Mysore, India before gaining his Master’s degree from Kuvempu University, India in 1996. He has been an opinion leader many times for Dentsply Endodontics, and has trained with people like Dr Gary Carr and Dr John Stropko in micro-endodontics. His mentor was Dr William Ben Johnson, the inventor of Thermafil and pioneer of rotary endodontics. Previously, Praveen was an associate professor in endodontics and conservative dentistry.

When Maidan Clinic – Sharq branch opened in 1987 in the central business district, it was the first private dental practice in Kuwait. The aim was to provide a first class dental experience to patients by meeting the highest standards and using the latest technology and innovations. Now, there are six other centres that belong to the Maidan group, though Sharq remains the biggest, both in team and physical size (the centre is spread over roughly 10,000 square feet). Maidan Clinic – Sharq branch is very popular with VIP patients.

Including me there are 10 dentists in the Sharq branch, 16 dental assistants, 5 infection control specialists, 4 hygienists and 4 receptionists that work across 12 surgeries in shifts between 0900 and 2030. Together, we are able to provide a comprehensive list of treatments from general dentistry to implants, orthodontics, sedation dentistry and more thanks to the broad skill set of the team and variety of qualifications. I specialise in conservative dentistry and endodontics, but my scope of practice also includes placing implants and minimally invasive anterior alignment using the Invisalign appliance (though only in select cases). I was instrumental in arranging the first certification programme for Invisalign in Kuwait, an honour that was observed by the then United States Ambassador to Kuwait, Matthew H. Tueller.

Each dentist – myself included – will see approximately 10 patients each day, though of course this can vary depending on the types of treatment required. The practice is open Saturday to Thursday, which is a half-day, and we have Friday off as this is considered our weekend in Kuwait.

As part of our service, we also offer a state of the art mobile dental clinic designed especially for corporations, private senior management consultations, schools and to treat patients with additional needs that are unable to attend the practice for treatment. This service is usually offered around twice a month, but at peak times of the year it can be as many as four.

Altogether, our patients receive a high standard of care across all aspects of dentistry, not only with treatments but infection prevention and control too, which is regulated by the Ministry of Health. As well as our personal benchmark that we set, there are specifications that we’re required to meet in line with ‘Infection Control Guidelines in Dental Practice’. The instructions include information on all aspects of infection control from hand hygiene to the use of personal protective equipment, surface disinfection and equipment asepsis, waste disposal, and instrument decontamination. On top of that we follow both OSHA standards (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and Universal Precautions, which along with our state-of-the-art infection control department ensures complete compliance and patient safety.

We have two rooms – one for the dirty, used instruments and cleaning and disinfection, and one for sterilisation, packing and storage, which are interconnected by a hatch to minimise recontamination. Equipment wise we use an ultrasonic cleaner before the instruments are packed, sealed and sterilised using either dry heat sterilisation or steam under pressure (autoclave). For best results all loads have either dry-heat or steam indicator tape to distinguish between processed and unprocessed, biological monitoring indicators to confirm the eradication of spores, and with the vacuum sterilisers, Bowie-Dick test packs to verify steam penetration.

Ultimately, it is the expert team of infection control specialists that are responsible for ensuring all protocols are followed to the letter, but I am very passionate about the infection prevention and control within our practice, as it ensures we are able to provide a quality level of care. Not only is it a legal requirement, but our patients trust us to provide an excellent service, and it’s what they deserve to receive.

To ensure I stay up to date with all the latest regulations, techniques, equipment and so on I regularly attend conferences and workshops all over the world such as the Midwinter Meeting in Chicago, the IDS Cologne and AACD (American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry) event. Any new changes or innovations that I come across I always take back to my practice, and where possible we always try to incorporate to make our service that little bit better.

For more information on the highly effective and affordable range of decontamination equipment and products from EschmannDirect, please visit www.eschmann.co.uk or call 01903 753322

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