Patients visualise dentistry tools as a dentist’s arms and hands. Instruments like a dental drill or dental handpiece, scaler, mirror, suction device, and more are vital for everyday dental practice. Among these daily machines, tools, instruments, and equipment in a dental office, it is a professional’s practice to control and eliminate bacterial, viral and fungal infection for the team and their patients. Hence, when a dentist performs teeth cleaning, root canal therapy, surgery, and other dentistry concerns ensure the high – quality service that you can give by disinfecting and sterilizing your dental drill. Here are additional details that both patients and oral care providers should be reminded of.
What Is The Purpose OF A Dental Drill?
A dental drill or dental handpiece is a tool that aims to remove severe cavities, decay, tartar, calculus, and plaque buildup on the gum line and surface of a tooth. On the other hand, a dental drill can also be used to shape the tooth, cut hard tissues like bone or tooth, and assists in root canal therapy. Patients that receive an offer of local anaesthesia from a dentist to reduce the pain from the high motor speed of the dental drill. Modern dental drills have an air system which has reduced torque (500 to 6000rpm), making a dental handpiece quieter. But, the quality of drilling or cutting is more precise and minimizes bleeding, and possibilities of infection in the teeth and gums.
Why Should Dentists Sterilise And Disinfect Dental Drills?
A broken tooth or cracked teeth requires filling with non – surgical procedures assisted by drills. Implants also require electric drills to smoothen out tooth and attach the crown for sealing root canal therapy procedures. But, a dental drill may be the source of bacterial or viral infection if a dentist doesn’t clean and disinfect their tools properly. According to the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), the most common causes of health illnesses in a dental or hospital setting is through machines, surfaces, and instruments like a dental drill that contain viruses and bacteria.
How Do You Disinfect A Dental Drill?
Autoclaves are useful for cleaning essential pieces of a dental drill such as low-speed motors, prophylaxis angles and other reusable parts. Disinfection with an autoclave involves vacuum, steam, and heat to kill and eliminate bacteria from surgical instruments. Through cycles of moisture and higher vacuum pressure in the tools can penetrate it deeper to ensure that microorganisms which harm the next set of patients. However, it is crucial to follow the manual on correctly sterilising and disinfecting all options in tools since the repeated process can wear out and destroy a dental drill.
Which Instruments Need Disinfection And Sterilisation?
Medical and oral care systems have procedures, instructions, and guidelines to follow to make products like a dental drill to last longer. Suppliers like Melag Autoclave or similar names remind dental clinics always to check the credibility of machines, instruments and accessories as well as its warranty. Reusable devices must be appropriately maintained to last for at least 15-20 years or more. Aside from dental drills and handpieces, several products require an autoclave to disinfect and sterilise.
Here are some examples of instruments that dentists should sterilise regularly:
- Periodical scalers
- Surgical instruments
- Impression trays
- Amalgam condensers
- Mouth Mirror
