Contributor

Assoc.  Prof. J. Tzoutzas

Country - Institution

Department of Operative Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dental School, Greece

Title

Negative effects of sterilization and disinfecting techniques and materials, on the integrity of dental armamentarium.

Summary

It is well documented that any dental instrument having been in contact with mucous membranes, hard dental tissues, bone and skin needs to be meticulously cleaned and sterilized before being used again.

Cleaning the instruments after being used is an absolutely necessary process as any disinfection or sterilization technique fails to maximize its potential and produce a sterilized effect unless the surfaces involved are clean and free of all foreign matter and substances.

          When dental instruments come into contact with saliva, blood, pus and also debris or excretions of any kind it is required that they are meticulously cleaned before they undergo any sterilization process as it has been proved that organic debris impedes the disinfection and sterilization process.

          At times, various cleaning techniques as regards the removal of biological fluids from the instruments have been proposed, adopted or have predominated aimed at a sterilization process free of any kind of visible biological debris.

          However, sometimes the outcome of such cleaning is not perfectly successful or reliable while the instruments undergo a different kind of surface fatigue which leads to future inactivation or even destruction.

          The presentation research paper has examined the effect of certain cleaning and disinfecting materials, as well as the water steam autoclave processing, on the integrity of the functional and non-functional surfaces of the instruments and it has been found that the use of inappropriate cleaning materials seriously affects their integrity mainly on the rotating instruments (burrs), the mirrors, the pliers and a large variety of hand instruments.

          Additionally, it has been found that the dental instruments business and manufacturers alter the structure and composure of the materials used without prior warning or instruction issuing as regards their management.