The US Army’s Hohenfels Dental Clinic in Hohenfels, Germany, is contacting patients who were treated on Friday, July 5, and Monday and Tuesday, July 8 and 9, after it discovered that the sterilization process for a small number of dental instrument sets may not have been fully completed for treatment during that timeframe.
“We care deeply about the safety of our patients and take patient safety very seriously,” said Lt. Col. Paul Boquet, Dental Activity Bavaria commander. “The potential health risk to affected patients is very low. However, we are taking these precautionary measures to ensure the safety of patients seen on those days.”
The clinic reports that its autoclave failed to completely sterilize several sets of dental instruments. Once the problem was discovered, the clinic says, all steps were taken to correct the issue and ensure that future malfunctions will not impact patients.
“We sincerely apologize for this incident and are working closely with the Hohenfels Army Health Clinic to offer follow-on care to ensure there is no negative impact to the health of affected patients,” said Boquet.
“Dental Health Command Europe is looking very closely at this incident and using it as an opportunity to improve our processes across all of our dental facilities in Europe to ensure we are doing all we can to provide safe, quality dental care to our patients,” said Col. Manuel Pozo-Alonso, Dental Health Command Europe commander.
Patients seen during that timeframe are asked to contact the clinic as soon as possible to discuss precautionary steps to ensure their health and safety.
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