There are 2 universal truths about cleaning, whether you’re washing dishes at home or sterilizing instruments in your dental practice. First, it’s important to follow a workflow or process. Second, cleaning debris is a necessary step before sterilization. As the infection control specialists at SciCan say, “If it’s not clean, it can’t be sterilized. It’s that simple.”
“It’s very vital that [staff members] follow a one-directional flow—that [instruments] that come in contaminated get more and more clean and then into the sterilizer and out sterile. We see a lot of these steps get missed in dental offices, and that’s where accidents happen. It’s important that the instruments are properly cleaned before they are sterilized,” said Ted Gray of SciCan during an interview at Pacific Dental Conference 2018.
The importance of this process isn’t just Gray’s opinion. The CDC states, “Cleaning should precede all disinfection and sterilization processes. Cleaning involves the removal of debris (organic or inorganic) from an instrument or device. If visible debris is not removed, it will interfere with microbial inactivation and can compromise the disinfection or sterilization process.” The agency adds that the use of automated equipment can be more efficient and safer than manually cleaning contaminated instruments.
Enter SciCan’s line of HYDRIM instrument washers that use a proprietary HIP chemical (HYDRIM Cleaning Solution with Instrument Protection) for excellent compatibility with a wide range of materials and coatings. HIP is automatically added at various stages in the cycle to optimize the cleaning and protection of instruments. Independent testing indicates 99.9% protein removal, according to SciCan.
“People think the most important step is sterilization, but the reality is we need a really good clean, quality instrument so we can sterilize it,” Gray explained. “If you think of it is this way, if an instrument came in with a million bacteria on it, once it goes through the proper cleaning process there’s less than 6 bacteria left, and the sterilizer’s job is just to kill those last 6.”
Learn more about HYDRIM by watching the video below. Also, find out more about an ongoing promotion for HYDRIM and other infection control units on SciCan’s website.