Looking after your Instruments and Tools

Investment in modern dental instruments and tools are expensive but sensible decisions for the future of your practice, putting bacteria and viral issues aside it also makes good sense to protect these investments by checking the decontamination procedures are not causing damage to your instruments. Often the damage will occur before your sterlisation process, it pays to look closely at your washing and disinfection stage. Some dentists are now using washer disinfectors connected to the mains water supply without the supply of ro water, these are great at getting consistent results removing debris very effectively – keep a close eye of scale build up on your instruments internally and externally, as this can cause damage to your instruments as well as the washer itself. Many practice’s still use the manual methods, scrubbing down instruments first, washing away debris and then a final rinse with dental water like Crystal Medic. This serves to reduce bacteria and virals, the purified water also conditions the instruments before they enter the sterilizer.

Dental instruments are made of high-quality materials designed to minimise corrosion, this resistance is based on their alloy composition and structure, forming a protective passivation layer on the surface. Instruments resist corrosion differently depending on the quality and thickness of this layer. It is important to avoid damage to this passivation layer during cleaning by using the correct when sterilising. Methods such as the use of wire brushes, which may give rise to surface abrasion, should be avoided. Any instruments that have rust spots should be removed. Always use detergents and process water specifically formulated for cleaning of instruments, and when using manual methods the detergent should be designed for the manual cleaning of dental instruments to perform correctly and avoid instrument degradation including discoloration, staining, corrosion and pitting. Another issue when manually cleaning is to remember to measure the correct volume of  process water and detergent to achieve the concentration specified by the detergent manufacturer. Once your washing is complete, lubricate any relevant items prior to sterilization with a non-oil-based lubricant.