At Dental Image Therapy Centres, we take pride in our commitment to not only providing the highest standard of dental care possible, but also to ensuring our facilities and instruments are always clean, sterilized and safe for our patients. Many of our cleaning and sterilization methods are on full display to those visiting our clinics, but some are less obvious – like how we keep our water lines spotless.  

Dental clinics consume a significant amount of water (on average more than 20,000 litres a year, according to some sources), and it’s critical that this water remains completely clean to ensure dental procedures are as successful as possible. In our clinics, we treat our water lines as per the guidance of the Manitoba Dental Association (MDA) infection control regulations, the same way that all Manitoba dental clinics should.  

These guidelines have strict requirements for standard procedures for the use, management and maintenance of Dental Unit Waterlines (DUWL). These procedures include:

• Using only sterile water and delivery methods for surgical procedures

• Regularly testing and monitoring each waterline for harmful bacteria

• Treating and retesting any waterlines that don’t pass testing before using those lines for treatment

• Purging and disinfecting waterlines and water bottles before patients are treated each day and after each patient’s visit

In addition to these requirements, dental treatment staff must each be trained to interpret and evaluate water test results. We also proactively test our water in cases where water quality noticeably changes (e.g., in the case of external repairs).  

We take the cleanliness and safety of our clinics extremely seriously, meeting or exceeding any of our profession’s required guidelines. If you have any questions about our cleaning, disinfecting or sanitation procedures, we’d be happy to assist – you can schedule a consultation or dental appointment using the orange “Book Online” button.