DECONTAMINATION OF DENTAL EQUIPMENT - A V ALIDATION OF 3 DEVICES DESIGNED FOR CLEANING, DISINFECTING, AND LUBRICATING OF DENTAL HIGH-SPEED TURBINES AND HANDPIECES

This study deals with the decontamination of dental turbines and handp ieces (DTH) aiming at eliminating the cross-infection risk in dental p ractice. Three types of equipment designed for cleaning/lubricating DT H were validated. The effect of the three devices was determined for f our different types of DTH, which were artificially contaminated with Streptococcus salivarius ATCC 13419 in a controlled manner. Sampling w as carried out by collecting one mi water flushed through the DTH conn ected to a dental unit. The study resulted in a model for testing the decontamination potential of a cleaning/lubrication device for DTH. On e of the devices could not reduce the contamination, while two others were able to reduce the bioburden with at least 3,9 logarithmic steps. However none of the devices tested could constantly eliminate the con tamination, for which reason an additional heat treatment of the DTH i s recommended.