This writer was recently in a dental office looking for a sink to wash my hands. The sink was easy to find, but I couldn’t find the foot activated switch to turn on the faucet. It took me a moment to realize that there was no remote switch, and that I would have to operate the tap manually. It’s my understanding that hand operated faucets are a common source of cross contamination in a dental office. Since there are obviously some dental offices still without this technology, I thought it would be prudent to go over some of the options on the market today.
The first style of hands-free faucet is readily available from any plumber or home improvement store: sensor style faucets such as you would commonly find in a public washroom. They work well, and can be retrofitted almost anywhere. The only downside to this technology is that they require batteries or an electrical outlet to operate.
The second type of hands-free control is a water relay system. Tapmaster (example shown on left, courtesy Tapmaster) is, in my opinion, the leading brand in this style of faucet control. Tapmaster controls use a foot activated switch, valves, and water pressure to turn the flow of water on and off. They are compatible with any style and make of faucet, and are installed inline with the water supply lines. Tapmaster controls are completely self-contained, and can easily be retrofitted into any style of cabinet, including staff room sinks, bathrooms, or residences.
A third type of hands-free faucet system is the most common in the dental office. Air activated shut-off valves are available from many dental equipment manufacturers, and are often standard equipment on new cabinets. With an air-activated shut off, a remote switch activates two diaphragm valves in the water lines (one for hot, one for cold) to start and stop the flow of water. The faucet is left on at all times, but water only flows when the switch is depressed. Air activated valves are easy to retrofit to existing sinks, but you do need to have an air supply in the cabinet. For most dental cabinets this is not a problem, but it can be an issue on sterilization room sinks or cabinets where air was not previously needed.
One nice benefit of air activated systems is that the activation switch is very small and can be mounted nearly anywhere. Recently, some cabinet manufacturers have been mounting this switch near the latch on the cupboard door. When mounted this way, simply pressing on the door with a knee will activate the water flow. This solution is especially elegant, as there are no outward signs of the switch, and the cabinet kick plate untouched, making clean up easier.
If your sinks and faucets are still controlled by a lever on top of the tap, I would really consider upgrading to a hands-free system. The convenience and reduced risk of cross contamination are great benefits to any medical or dental facility.
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