Ultimate Guide to Cleaning Dental Handpieces
Dental handpieces are vital tools used in various dental procedures, making them an essential aspect of providing quality dental care for your patients. However, ensuring their cleanliness and proper maintenance is equally important; proper care prevents cross-contamination, encourages optimal performance, and extends their overall lifespan.
Safco Dental Supply is here to serve as your trusted source for top-tier dental tools and supplies. We are also proud to provide dental professionals with tips and information that will help their practice succeed; continue reading for more information about cleaning and caring for dental handpieces.
Dental Handpieces Maintenance
Proper handpiece maintenance is essential in ensuring their longevity, performance, and safety in your dental practice. Here are some key practices for proper handpiece maintenance:
- Cleaning after each use: Removing debris, blood, and other contaminants from the handpiece after each use helps prevent cross-contamination between patients, maintains infection control standards, and ensures that the handpiece is clean.
- Lubrication: Regular lubrication of dental handpieces reduces friction and wear on internal components, ensuring smooth operation, prolonging the lifespan of the handpiece, and minimizing the risk of overheating. Handpieces should be lubricated at least once daily, though you may lubricate after each use if you wish.
- Sterilization: Proper sterilization of dental handpieces in an autoclave between patient use is essential to eliminate pathogens and prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. Infection control is a key component to proper dental care with patient barriers and more supplies.
- Inspection and maintenance: Regular inspection of dental handpieces allows staff to identify signs of wear, damage, or malfunction early on, making it possible to administer timely repairs or replacements as needed. Routine maintenance procedures, such as replacing worn gaskets, help ensure the reliability and performance of handpieces during dental procedures. Safco Service is a quick and easy handpiece repair service at competitive prices.
- Proper storage: Storing dental handpieces in a clean, dry environment helps prevent corrosion, contamination, and damage to internal components. Using sterile pouches protects handpieces from dust and debris when they are not in use. Shop the Safco TripleCheck™ sterilization pouches for your practice’s handpieces.
- Compliance with manufacturer guidelines: Following manufacturer recommendations for cleaning, lubrication, sterilization, and maintenance procedures ensures optimal performance and longevity of dental handpieces. Adhering to manufacturer guidelines also helps maintain warranties and ensures compatibility with recommended consumables and accessories.
The Dos and Don’ts of Dental Handpiece Cleaning & Maintenance
Below are some “Dos” and “Don’ts” of dental handpiece maintenance and cleaning:
- DO remove debris and sterilize after each use
- DO lubricate at least once daily
- DO follow all manufacturer guidelines
- DON’T immerse dental handpieces in liquid cleaning solutions or use disinfectant wipes
- DON’T store in damp areas or areas that are exposed to sunlight
- DON’T skip regular inspections and maintenance
Precautions Before Cleaning Dental Handpieces
Consider the following precautions that must be taken prior to cleaning your dental handpieces:
Safety Measures
In order to protect yourself from pathogens and contaminants while cleaning and sterilizing dental handpieces, it is important to wear appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE). This includes but is not limited to:
Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly both before and after cleaning handpieces. A designated handpiece cleaning station in your sterilization area will ensure that the area remains clean, tidy, and well-ventilated.
Required Cleaning Tools
Below are some of the best supplies and tools for cleaning dental handpieces:
How to Clean Dental Handpieces
Preparation Process Before Cleaning
To begin, wash your hands thoroughly. Next, make sure you are equipped with all necessary PPE to protect against exposure to potentially infectious materials and chemical hazards. Next, collect all the supplies you will need for proper cleaning and sterilization, as mentioned in the section above.
If you do not have a designated handpiece cleaning area, move to a clean and uncluttered area in the sterilization area. Set up all of your supplies and tools to make sure that they are within reach while you are working. If necessary, you may lay down protective barriers on the countertop in order to create a completely clean work environment and to further avoid cross-contamination.
Cleaning and Sanitizing Dental Handpieces
So, how should dental handpieces be cleaned?
Begin cleaning the handpieces by manually removing blood and other debris in the turbine heads, gears, and chuck mechanisms. This can be done with the use of handpiece cleaning solution and a nylon cleaning brush. You can then wipe down the handpiece with a paper towel or piece of gauze and rubbing alcohol. Remember, do not use disinfectant solutions on your dental handpieces, and do not immerse them in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Next, spray handpiece lubricating solution into the drive line. Run the handpiece to make sure that excess oil is expelled from the line; this typically takes about ten seconds.
Finally, place the handpiece inside a sterilization pouch and seal it completely. Sterilize the handpiece inside the autoclave as per manufacturer and CDC guidelines. Allow the sterilized handpiece to cool completely before its next use.
Drying Dental Handpieces Properly
After the autoclave has completed the sterilization process, allow your handpieces to fully and properly dry by programming the autoclave to the drying cycle for sixty minutes. After the drying process is finished, allow the handpieces to cool naturally before they are used; it is advised not to run them under cold water to cool them down straight out of the autoclave.
Advanced Cleaning Techniques
Below are some advanced cleaning techniques to help you optimize your handpiece cleaning and sterilization process.
Ultrasonic Cleaning Process
It is advised never to submerge your dental handpieces in any sort of liquid or cleaning solution; consequently, it is crucial that you never place your dental handpieces inside the ultrasonic cleaner.
While ultrasonic solutions can be beneficial in the cleaning and sterilization process for most dental tools, submerging your dental handpieces in liquid can lead to rust or corrosion, which can hinder their performance and efficacy. This practice can also damage the inner components of the handpiece such as the turbines, gears, or bearings. Eventually, this may lead to the need for repair or possible replacement.
An ultrasonic cleaner may not be able to thoroughly clean the intricate internal components inside your handpieces. Thorough, manual surface cleaning and lubrication followed by complete sterilization inside of an autoclave is the most successful way to ensure that your dental handpieces are clean and ready for their next use.
What’s more, is that submerging your dental handpieces in any sort of liquid may void your manufacturer’s warranty. Check your manufacturer’s guide or confirm with your handpiece manufacturer themselves to learn more about the specific care instructions that will keep your warranty valid.
Automatic Cleaning Systems
In the dental industry, products that allow your practice to run more efficiently and quickly are worth their weight in gold. An automatic dental handpiece cleaning system can completely automate the cleaning and lubricating process for you; simply place the handpieces inside and allow the machine to do its magic.
Ultimately, this ensures that the handpieces are being properly cleaned and lubricated each and every time. As the machine is able to work on multiple handpieces at once, it also saves your staff valuable time and allows for more handpieces to be cleaned, lubricated, and ready to sterilize in a shorter amount of time.
Maintenance After Cleaning
Below are some of the most important steps to follow after the handpiece cleaning process.
Lubrication Process of Dental Handpieces
While the lubrication process is a crucial aspect of dental handpiece management, it is actually quite simple.
Simply insert the nozzle of the lubricant into the drive line and spray until it comes out of the head of the handpiece. To make sure that excess oil does not remain in the line, run the handpiece for about ten seconds; this also ensures that the oil is able to lubricate the chuck and bearings. The handpiece is now lubricated and ready to be sterilized.
Proper Storage Guidelines
Once your handpieces have been sterilized, it is important to store them in a cool, dry place that is out of direct sunlight. Ensure that the pouches are labeled with the date of sterilization.
It is also crucial to ensure that the seal is not broken on the sterilization pouches until the handpiece is ready to be used; this ensures that the handpiece remains completely sterile and safe for use.
Regularly inspecting your handpieces helps to ensure that they are in the best possible operating condition and will help enforce quality control.
Safco Dental Supply Handpiece Repair Service
Safco Service offers repair and restoration for all air-driven handpieces, along with free estimates for electric and surgical handpieces, ensuring optimal performance across various models. Learn more about the pricing and repairs offered by Safco Service today!
Safco Dental Supply: Best Dental Equipment and Supplies Online
With the information you have learned here, you should be well-equipped for properly caring for your dental handpieces.
For high-quality instruments and dental equipment, place your trust in Safco Dental Supply. We provide a wide range of dental products and equipment to fit every need, with free shipping on orders over $250.
We strive to get you your products as fast as possible. All orders placed before 4:30 pm CST (3:30 pm on Friday) are shipped out same-day.
Give us a call at 800.621.2178 to speak with one of our experts about professional dental hygiene equipment and supplies.
Looking for more informative dental blogs? Check out this blog about how to know when to replace your dental equipment.
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