Sterilizing Your W&H Dental Handpieces
The W&H Group, which is based in Austria, is considered to be one of the top-rated manufacturers of dental instruments and devices.
The high-quality W&H dental handpieces produced by the company display the highest level of quality and are used in practices, dental hospitals, dental-based laboratories, and dental surgical units around the world.
If you utilize W&H dental handpieces in your practice, it is imperative that you know and understand the procedures for proper sterilization. This will ensure that the dental care that you provide is harmless to all of the population groups that you service. In this brief guide, we will provide comprehensive details on the proper sterilization of your W&H dental handpieces.
While sterilization seems to be a standard task among practitioners, it is a task that requires special attention and a suitable amount of preparation. This ensures that no damage occurs to the interior components of the devices and that defects in the operation of the dental handpieces and the financial burden of defective operation are completely avoided.
Immediately after performing dental work with your patients, the external regions of your dental handpieces have been subjected to exposure to various bodily fluids – such as saliva and blood.
Additionally, the handpieces have come in contact with tissue debris and various types of residues associated with dental materials. As a result, the internal tubes on the instruments have also – likely – been infected as a result of the hydrodynamic actions occurring with the tip – such as opening up coronal cavities and polishing restorations.
One of your main responsibilities as a practitioner is to ensure that the spread of contaminated matter is reduced. Asepsis control may be established in numerous ways.
Examples include disinfection techniques involving chemicals, thermals, irrigation, and microwaves. You may also use single-use dental handpieces; however, this may prove to be a hefty expense.
If you use W&H dental handpieces, the best sterilization technique involves the use of moist heat through saturated-based water vapors. This is often referred to as “autoclave”. The following steps will allow you to successfully sterilize your W&H dental handpieces using this particular procedure:
- Immediately after completely finishing the dental work, you should allow the dental handpiece to operate for approximately 10 seconds over the basin that you use for washing. This will eject water, air, and debris.
- The instrument should be detached from all tubing. Then, it should be thoroughly washed and completely brushed underneath running water.
- Absorbent paper should then be used to dry the instrument.
- Now that the exterior surfaces have been cleaned, you should reconnect the W&H dental handpiece to the tubes and operate it for about 5 seconds. You should only use air so that the water is dispelled from the interior surface of the tubes, as well as the impellers.
- Immediately thereafter, the dental handpiece should be lubricated, according to manufacturing instructions.
- You should then place the handpiece and the bur extractor (if present) in an enclosed pouch that provides an airtight seal. Typically, these will include a thermosealer.
- Finally, place the W&H dental handpiece within the autoclave.
If you would like more information on sterilizing dental handpieces, would like to obtain dental instruments for your practice, or are in need of dental handpiece repair, contact Hughes Dental today at: