For this project, we are working with representatives from the UNC Adams School of Dentistry that work in the Oral Microbiology Lab (OML). Our team was asked to help them update and work on the Sterilization Monitoring Service (SMS), a database management system run by the OML. The SMS helps dentists from around North Carolina keep track of the status of their sterilizers, so that they can ensure they are complying with the appropriate laws while also ensuring the safety of their patients.
The SMS is used by dentists across North Carolina and other states to ensure that autoclaves, which is a machine used to sterilize metal tools, are operating correctly. This is done to prevent the spread of disease and bacteria from patient to patient. This is also a service that is required by state law, which requires that dental offices test their machines weekly. All of these factors combine to give the lab a huge volume of tests every day, and mean that the work done by the SMS is essential to the dental industry, more specifically the offices who depend on it to test their autoclaves. The SMS assures that people will be safe going to the dentist and that dentists are hygienic with the tools that they use from patient to patient.
Our application is vital to the operation of the OMLSMS because the UNC Adams School of Dentistry is one of the only facilities that offers sterilization testing in the state of North Carolina. Every sterilizer in North Carolina is required to be tested weekly, and the consistent operation of the OMLSMS application is necessary for dental offices and patients across NC. Updating the technologies used from decades past will lead to a more stable and secure application, as well as the ability for the IT department to support the lab going forward. These changes will ultimately continue to allow the OML to ensure the compliance of dental offices leading to a safe and sterile environment for patients.
In summary, sterilization is a critical element of any medical practice, including dentistry, as it prevents infection and the spread of disease in patients. As such, sterilization via autoclaves and testing to ensure that they are properly disinfecting is something that is mandated by state laws. Therefore, our work on the SMS system and database for the Oral Microbiology Lab is of notable importance and significance because it is a system that not only ensures dental offices are compliant with the law and are conducting good practices, but it is critical to the support of the work done by the OML, which in turn supports medical sterilization. As a result, since the effort of increased sterilization over the years has been a key factor in keeping more and more patients alive, then the application we are working on and the work done by our client contributes to this effort.