Manual and mechanical preparation of scalers made easy Hygiene guidelines for the day-to-day running of your practice

Hygiene plays a major role in the day-to-day running of your practice and helps ensure the safety of the practice team and patients. After all, protection against infection has absolute priority for everyone involved.


For this reason, the Deutsche Arbeitskreis für Hygiene in der Zahnmedizin (“German Work Group for Hygiene in Dentistry”) has drawn up hygiene guidelines which describe correct technical preparation in depth. You can find the details of the hygiene guidelines here* .

We have drawn up guidelines for you with individual cleaning and maintenance steps to make it easier for you to comply with the hygiene directives of the RKI with regard to the preparation of your straight and contra-angle handpieces. 

1. External cleaning and disinfecting

Perform directly after treatment.

Put on protective gloves

Remove the grinding instrument (drill) and place it into a suitable disinfecting solution

Remove handpiece from the tube

Cleaning

External disinfecting

 

2. Internal cleaning and disinfecting

Perform within 30 minutes of last use. Choose the manual method 2.1 or alternatively the mechanical method 2.2.

Morita turbines, as well as straight and contra-angle handpieces, with this symbol are suitable for both mechanical cleaning and disinfecting with a thermal disinfector (RDG), and for manual internal cleaning and disinfecting with WL-clean and WL-cid.

2.1 Manual internal cleaning and disinfecting with WL-clean and WL-cid

(Manufacturer: ALPRO MEDICAL) Pay attention to the manufacturer’s instructions on care products.

Non-protein-fixing cleaning with WL-clean

Disinfecting with WL-cid

Blowing out with WL-dry / WL-Blow

2.2 Mechanical internal cleaning and disinfecting

with a thermal disinfector (RDG)

RDG can be used instead of manual internal cleaning.
Place the assembled transfer instruments on the relevant adapters or in dismantled condition into the RDG. Ensure that you use a suitable instrument adapter and that the filter panels are replaced at the prescribed intervals.
Pay attention to the manufacturer’s instructions on the RDG devices.

3. Care with oil spray

At least on a daily basis at midday and in the evening and before any sterilization and after any thermal disinfecting. Oiling the ball bearings is vital to ensure the long service life of the instrument.
In particular, the TwinPower high-performance turbines require careful and regular care with appropriate lubrication. Choose the manual method 3.1 or alternatively the mechanical method 3.2.

3.1 Manuelle Pflege mit Morita Spray-Adapter

Oiling the ball bearings


Oil the collet at least once a week

3.2 Mechanical care with Lubrina care device

As an alternative to manual care, a care device (e.g. Lubrina) can be used. Pay attention to the manufacturer’s instructions on care devices.

 

 

4. FG-Spannzange prüfen

Check the FG collet once a week

The collet is OK if the blue line is visible

If the blue line is no longer visible, the cartridge will have to be replaced

Instruments which have not been used surgically and are not intended for this use can now be used again or stored in a dust-protected environment (continued in 6.).

5. Sterilization

Instruments intended for use in the surgical field are shrink-wrapped into appropriate sterile packaging and sterilized in B-class autoclaves (EN DIN 13060).

Sterilization in the autoclave at 135°C

 

 

6. Storage

Instruments are stored, according to necessity, in low-bacteria or sterile conditions, packed or unpacked, shielded form dust, clean and dry.

 

 

7. Re-use

Leave the instrument to run for approximately 15 seconds to blow out the superfluous oil. Wipe head with disinfecting cloth.

 

 

9. Transfer instruments

Morita instruments with this symbol are suitable for both mechanical cleaning and disinfecting using a thermal disinfector (RDG) and for manual internal cleaning and disinfecting with WL-clean and WL-cid.

*DAHZ (2013): DAHZ-Hygieneleitfaden, 9. Ausgabe 2014, URL: http://www.bzaek.de/fileadmin/PDFs/za/hygieneplan/hygieneleitfaden.pdf, as of: 25.08.2014