How To Disinfect Your Dental Office With Force of Nature
We know that reopening your dental practice came with a lot of responsibility and consideration for how you would do it safely. It’s not just protecting your patients, but also yourself and your staff, many of whom are spending a lot of time much closer than six feet away from your patients! We’re proud to offer an EPA-registered disinfectant that kills 99.9% of viruses, bacteria, and germs and is on the EPA’s List N as a disinfectant approved for use against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Even more good news: the active anti-microbial ingredient in Force of Nature (hypochlorous acid) is the same substance created by our own immune systems and is used in veterinary medicine, optical medicine, and wound care, so it’s gentle enough to use around your patients, too. Here are our top tips for how to disinfect your dental office with Force of Nature.
Top Tips For Disinfecting Your Dental Office with Force of Nature
The Difference Between Cleaning and Disinfecting
There’s a difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting. Disinfecting has the most stringent requirements, given all disinfectants are regulated by the EPA and must meet a minimum requirement of killing 99.9% of germs across a range of microbes within a specified dwell time. To disinfect properly, you want to ensure that the disinfectant can come into contact with 100% of the surface, so you should clean the surface of any debris or residue, then spray it thoroughly and let it sit for the required dwell time. Most people don’t realize that you can’t just spray a surface and wipe it right afterwards – letting it sit for that dwell time is critical. The most common dwell time you’ll likely see is 10 minutes, and manufacturers use that for their EPA testing because pathogen kill times and surfaces can vary greatly. Examples of commonly used disinfectant ingredients that use 10 min dwell times (depending on their concentrations) include quats (quaternary ammonium compounds), sodium hypochlorite (bleach) and thymol.
Waiting Room and “High Touch” Areas
High touch areas are areas that are commonly touched by your patients and staff like door handles and elevator buttons as well as drawer pulls and cabinet knobs. In the waiting room, some areas to look out for are communal coffee machines, water fountains and, for pediatric dentists, any children’s toys or activities. All these areas can be disinfected by spraying them with Force of Nature.
Shared Technology and Gadgets
Disinfect shared technology between uses. If you have patients check in on a tablet, spray it with Force of Nature between patients. It’s a good idea to frequently disinfect any technology like computers, phones and tablets, interactive screens and TV remotes. To disinfect your devices, first spray a clean cloth or paper towel with Force of Nature and then wipe them down, preferably when they are powered off.
Chairs, Lights and Exam Rooms
Virtually every hard surface in your exam room can be disinfected between patients with Force of Nature including chairs, countertops, and rolling stools. Force of Nature is free of allergens and certified SkinSafe by the Mayo Clinic, so it is gentle enough to use on surfaces your patients will come into contact with and for your staff to use continuously throughout the day. Did you know that 40% of children and 30% of adults have allergies or asthma? Chances are you have patients and staff who shouldn’t be around conventional disinfectant ingredients which can be major skin and respiratory irritants, so nice work on choosing Force of Nature!
Communal Areas
If you have a shared lunchroom or kitchen, you can disinfect it with Force of Nature. Spray appliances and food prep surfaces, countertops and eating surfaces with Force of Nature. And don’t forget those light switches.
Bathrooms
The faucets, stall door handles and locks, countertops, door handles and light switches in the bathrooms can be disinfected by spraying them with Force of Nature. And because it has no toxic chemicals, there’s no need to rinse.
Personal Belongings
Your staff can disinfect any personal belongings before they leave for the day including the soles of their shoes, eyeglasses and sunglasses, car keys, phones, bags, lunch boxes, water bottles and thermoses. These items can all be sprayed with Force of Nature.
Learn More
We created Force of Nature to provide an option for effective disinfecting without exposing people to harmful and toxic chemicals. Hypochlorous acid is used as an effective anti-microbial in all types of products and the research on hypochlorous acid is extensive given its range of applications. We’re grateful to be able to help during this unprecedented crisis by providing all kinds of workplaces with an EPA-registered disinfectant that kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. Want to buy in bulk, or need to make enough of our formula for several bottles a day? We’ve got you covered on that too with Force of Nature Pro, our large capacity appliance that makes 32 or 64 oz of all-in-one cleaner, deodorizer and disinfectant.
