How to Keep Your LED Curing Lights Clean
“You don’t take care of your stuff.” That would be a comment I heard from my mother quite often when I was a child. And she was right. I didn’t put away my toys properly, so they got lost or broken, and I didn’t maintain things like my bike and ice skates, so they didn’t work right and I just shoved them to the back of the garage or closet. And if I had technology toys back then—Nintendo consoles, iPads—I wouldn’t have taken care of them either.
So, the question is:
Do you take care of your stuff?
You know, all the dental equipment and technology in your practice? And, more specifically, do you take care of your LED curing lights? After burs, these tools of the trade are probably the biggest work horses in your practice, so you want them working properly. If they don’t, the result is failed restorations because of inadequate cure…which, of course, leads to dissatisfied patients.
Curing lights aren’t all the same. Some have light guides, some have fixed light tips, and some are cordless and require a charging station.
Here’s a little advice about how to keep your curing light clean and functioning.
Light guides
- Always use single-use barrier sleeves.
- Never use damaged light guides.
- After each use remove gross contamination with a soft brush or cloth; remove stuck on composite with alcohol and/or a plastic spatula.
- Don’t use sharp or pointed tools to clean the light guide; they may scratch the surface.
- Follow manufacturer instructions for disinfecting your light guide.
- Cleaning and disinfection are essential for effective sterilization; only steam sterilization is approved.
- Autoclaving light guides reduces light output.
Fixed light tips
- Fixed light tips are exactly what they sound like—a permanent part of the curing light—so what you do to the tip effects the entire unit.
- Always use single-use barrier sleeves.
- After each use, carefully remove the sleeve so that it doesn’t touch the light.
- If you see any contamination, wear fresh exam gloves and clean the device with a detergent that’s compatible with your disinfecting solution.
- Don’t submerge the device in water or other liquids.
- Don’t allow any liquid or foreign substances to enter the handpiece.
- Don’t steam sterilize the unit.
- Don’t clean or disinfect with highly aggressive agents.
- If a fixed light tip is damaged, you’ll need to replace the entire curing light.
You can learn more about the proper care and feeding of curing lights here. And now that you know how to take care of your “stuff,” you can start investigating all of your LED curing light options here.