The dental practice involves many steps and procedures aimed at improving the patient's oral health condition. Furthermore, they are designed to ensure the patient's safety. However, not all these steps are done inside the mouth.
One of the most vital steps or elements in any dental practice is the sterilization process. This is the only method available to prevent cross-infections between patients.
Sterilization ensures to kill any bacteria from the patient's mouth that could have attached to a dental instrument. This prevents foreign bacteria from reaching a different patient via contaminated instruments.
Although sterilization can be done through different methods, the autoclave has been proven to be the most effective and reliable method.
An autoclave sterilizer is a machine that uses water vapor to kill bacteria from dental instruments' surfaces.
It consists of a large chamber where the dentist or dental hygienist can place the instruments inside. This chamber is then tightly sealed, preventing anything from entering or exiting it.
The autoclave sterilizer operates at 250 - 275°F (120 - 135°C). This is the temperature needed to effectively denaturalize bacteria's protein barrier. Therefore, resulting in their death and leaving the instruments sterile.
Furthermore, the operating time should be around 15 - 30 minutes. Also, the time of the sterilization cycle depends on the autoclave sterilizer temperature.
Nonetheless, the practitioner should wait between 20 - 40 minutes after the sterilization cycle is completed. This is necessary for the instruments to dry and cool down.
The autoclave sterilizer possesses chambers filled with water. These water deposits are connected to the main chamber through ducts.
When the autoclave cycle is initiated, the water heats up and turns into vapor. This vapor reaches the main chamber, where it elevates the temperature. Furthermore, the pressure in the chamber rises, which improves the sterilization process.
Once the sterilization cycle is completed, the temperature inside the chamber decreases and reaches room temperature. After this cooling cycle is completed, the practitioner can open the autoclave door safely to take out the sterile instruments.
The autoclave can be calibrated to work at the desired temperature. Furthermore, it possesses indicators on the outside that display the pressure and heat inside the main chamber. It also has indicators that display the current cycle.
When the autoclave sterilizer door closes, it creates a perfectly sealed environment. On the inside, the machine reaches high temperatures and pressures. For this reason, it is vital not to open the door until the cooling cycle has finished. Otherwise, the heat can escape and cause severe injuries to the person who opened the door.
Also, all the instruments must be placed inside special pouches or packaging before placing them inside the autoclave.
This prevents the instruments from contaminating after taking them out of the sterilizer.