Dental Infection Control: Testing Surfaces & Waterlines With ATP | Lane Bourland of MCS

Your air-water syringe may be the dirtiest thing in your office. Lane Bourland of MCS grew up managing his dad's dental practices, and now tests dental offices' surfaces and waterlines with ATP swabs. He explains what the tests usually find, what harsh wipes do to your equipment and your team, and what the real cost of a sick day is. In this episode: - How a busy pediatric practice in Abilene, Texas rethought disinfecting during COVID - ATP testing: how a 10-second swab shows what's on a surface - The spots that test dirtiest, in and out of the operatory - What Chad's office found, and why the treatment rooms weren't the problem - Harsh disinfectant wipes, equipment warranties and staff safety - Waterline testing and the 500 CFU limit - Ozone, hypochlorous and long-lasting disinfectants: can you prove they work? - The real cost of a sick team member Plus a preview of our patient episode on teeth whitening, and why whitening lights don't work. Lane Bourland grew up in his father Dr. Bart Bourland's dental practices in Abilene, Texas, where he worked every role from sterilization tech to practice manager, and now helps lead MCS, an infection control testing and disinfection service. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 2:14 A wedding in Charleston 10:03 Does teeth whitening work? 10:53 Whitening lights don't work 14:46 Van Haywood and the whitening research 16:31 Introducing Lane Bourland 19:59 Growing up in his dad's dental practice 21:50 How MCS started in a pediatric office during COVID 23:26 How do you measure clean? 24:31 The air-water syringe: usually the dirtiest spot 27:18 How ATP testing works 28:42 ATP testing in endo 29:48 What the testing found in Chad's office 32:50 Are your wipes hurting your equipment and your team? 35:42 The real cost: sick days 38:02 Training the team 39:50 Storing your test results 40:40 Waterline testing and the 500 CFU limit 42:04 What MCS actually does 44:47 What changes for the team day to day 49:45 The doctor's own chair 51:05 Ozone and hypochlorous: can you prove they work? 52:04 A water-based polymer 53:34 Medical offices, vet clinics and nursing homes 56:19 Where MCS works 1:00:33 Closing 🎧 Listen to the podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dentists-in-the-know/id1543254763 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Elfj6LX0hCUyp0AgdTsij 📺 Make sure you subscribe to catch new episodes live every Wednesday at 8pm ET! https://www.youtube.com/@dentistsintheknow 🌟 Stay up to date on all the latest dental trends when you follow the DINKs: https://fanflet.com/dinks/social-2