Abstract:Objective To clarify the high-touch surface in oral diagnosis and treatment procedures, provide basis and guidance for cleaning and disinfection. Methods The direct observation method was used to investigate the touch time and frequency of environmental surfaces in 7 outpatient departments of a tertiary stomatology hospitals in Beijing. The average touch frequency, 95% confidence interval and cumulative touch rate were calculated. Results In oral diagnosis and treatment procedures, the average touch frequency of the environmental surface was 26.75 times per procedure, with the highest in endodontics (46.25 times per procedure) and the lowest in the oral mucosal specialty (10.19 times per procedure). The high-touch surface consisted of the shadowless lamp handle, manipulation panel and handle on dental unit (doctor's side), computer keyboard and mouse, handle and line front end of three way syringe, as well as dental high speed handpiece and line front end, with average touch frequencies of 3.99, 3.85, 2.65, 1.86, and 1.40 times per procedure. The high-touch surface in all stomatology specialties included the manipulation panel and handle on dental unit (doctor's side), 75% of specialties included computer keyboard and mouse, and the shadowless lamp handle has the highest touch frequency in 50% of specialties. The ave-rage touch frequency of the environmental surface was highest (113.50 times per procedure) during crown preparation procedure, and the lowest (8.50 times per procedure) during the orthodontic consultations. Conclusion The high-touch surface of different dental specialties and different diagnosis and treatment procedures are different. Me-dical institutions should take corresponding cleaning, disinfection and management measures according to the actual situation of high-touch surface in stomatology departments, so as to effectively improve the quality of environmental cleaning and disinfection.