Dental Instruments

[robert551069]

When I visited a new dentist last week, he took out the mirror and a probe from a sealed plastic bag, so I knew that they were sterile.
I had not seen this before.

[Buenchico]

They're surprisingly cheap:
http://www.365healthc...=Dental%20Instruments

Chris

[robert551069]

Thank you for the information, Buenchico.

[vivandorron]

Being cynical.......Plastic bags are even cheaper and Dentists often have hidden away in another room an Autoclave for sterilisation of instruments.

Ron.

[boxtops]

Ron, I think not, they wouldn't get away with that these days. The days of sterilisers in dental and GP practices are fading fast, as are the sterile services in the trusts where instruments used to be sent back for sterilisation. You won't find many GP practices with an autoclave these days under current infection control rules. Disposables are - overall - much cheaper, and each item is one use only.

[factor-fiction]

It doesn't sound very environmentally friendly though

[boxtops]

Probably not, but it's very cost-effective... and reduces the risk of infection considerably.

[boxtops]

This is a commercial advert but if you scroll down to Environmental Impact, there is a solid argument (which applies to any provider) for using disposables http://www.beehive-so..._pages.php?pages_id=5

[masma]

I'm just back from having my arm dressed at the hospital, the nurse got scissors and tweezers out of sterile bags. I asked her if they get re sterilised and packaged and she said no, they get thrown away. Such a waste, the scissors would've been ideal for my embroidery ;-)

[J9PUR]

This is to comply with recent DofH HTM-0105 regulations regarding decontamination in dental practice that state that all sterilised instruments must be stored in sealed containers. Furthermore, if the instruments are not opened within a 3-week period of being sterilised, they need to be decontaminated and sterilised again.