The Most Common Maintenance Mistakes Made With W&H Handpieces

The W&H Group is an Austria-based manufacturer of dental devices and dental-based transmission tools and instruments such as W&H handpieces, surgical devices, implant stability measurement units, prosthodontic screwdrivers, sterilizers, water treatment devices, and more. The company’s products are exported to well over 100 countries, worldwide.

The tools and instruments offered by W&H exhibit the highest level of durability and quality; unfortunately, when performing maintenance on W&H handpieces many practices, oral health hospitals, dental-based laboratories, and micro-surgical specialists make many mistakes.

Below, you will find a list of those mistakes. By avoiding these, your W&H handpieces are sure to offer you years of top-quality productivity and success:

1. Many dental health professionals engage in the process of utilizing a chemical-based wipe-down on their W&H dental handpieces prior to the sterilization process. Unfortunately, the chemical residue left behind on the handpieces may create potentially harmful reactions when the unit is subjected to the heat that is emitted during sterilization.
2. It is common for the wrong hole on W&H handpieces to be lubricated during maintenance. It is important to lubricate only the air line of the drive as this directs the lubricating fluid to the turbine within the device. If lubrication is placed in the hole that acts as the exhaust of the device or the water hole, it could result in devastating effects – including complete lack of functionality.
3. Many dental professionals neglect to run their W&H handpieces prior to engaging in the act of autoclaving and immediately after the lubrication process. If the dental handpiece is not ran appropriately, the lubrication is sure to act as a gum-like barrier in the turbine bearings. Additionally, this could result in the detrimental effect of dispelled lubrication oil during dental procedures.
4. Light transmission is essential to dental handpiece functionality. If the W&H handpieces in use include a fiber-optic light, it is common to skip over the cleansing of this particular bundle. Unfortunately, this common mistake could prove to be quite costly as it has the capability of decreasing the amount of light that is successfully transmitted from the device during use.
5. The next – and final – maintenance mistake that is often made with W&H handpieces is the failure to appropriately maintain the autoclaves of the units. If these areas are not properly maintained and appropriately cleaned, excessive buildup may occur. The detrimental result of such an accumulation of debris has the ability to severely contaminate the dental handpiece system and all other components – such as water lines and evacuation units.