Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

of stainless steel which are heavier than trays made out of aluminium. The most efficient trays, from disinfection and steri- lisation standpoint will be trays/cassettes made out of a non-heat absorbing, non- heavy and non-corrosion causing material. Tray-prep increases efficien- cy and security To organise the logistics and handling of instruments re- quires a lot of time, and un- fortunately few clinics take that time to go through these processes. To obtain a flow of instru- ments as secure and efficient as possible, the use of a sys- tem as complete as possible is recommended. The first thing to do to ameliorate the logistics of in- struments and materials in the clinic is to minimise the number of instruments in the treatment area. Tray systems facilitate the flow of instru- ments and goods the whole way between treatments, via sterile area, to storing. With a carefully planned tray sys- tem you can handle the tray, the accessories and the instru- ments (products) as one unit throughout the whole process of work. Tray systems and “tray- prep-stations” facilitate the handling of goods. A good tray system with practical tray accessories and carefully planned hygiene routines fa- cilitates the flow of materi- als. Unstructured handling of instruments results in losing valuable time and heightens the risk of reducing security and disregarding aseptics. Secure handling of instru- ments also leads to mini- mising prick and puncture wounds, at the same time as simplifying the inspection of instruments. It also means that single use materials and hazardous waste can be eas- ily removed and thrown into a lidded waste bin, if using a tray-prep-station in the surgery. Stands for burs and endofiles – a hidden problem Stands for burs and endofiles are very often a hidden prob- lem in the clinic. A simple so- lution to the problem is to use one standard kit that is in use during the whole process of work and the whole hygiene circle. Pre-prepared trays with all instruments in place also minimises the process time between patients. Stainless steel is not forever Dental metal instruments are for the most made by high quality stainless steel with high elasticity and high stretch. The material has high resistance against wear and corrosion. All of these capacities can be negatively influenced by erroneous han- dling of the instruments, par- ticularly in connection with cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation. Often instruments made of stainless steel are supposed to be extremely strong and fit for using for almost any amount of time. But the truth is that all kinds of instruments can be harmed both by mechani- cal, thermal and chemical in- fluences. Dental instruments often consist of different parts and of different kinds of met- als and alloys, even in the same instrument. It is important to maintain the tenability of the instru- ments with careful handling. They are not to be thrown in the process of decontamina- tion. The instruments should be processed in trays, hold- ers or stands so as not to clash against each other. They should also be in contact with each other as little as possible when washed, disinfected and sterilised. Reduce the number of arti- cles and save time and money To have fewer instruments in use means that it will be easier and safer to locate goods that should be re-sterilised and re- disinfected and that there will always be current information on which instruments that are needed in the surgery. Higher security will be a result from always having the right materials and instru- ments in the treatment area. The time in need for han- dling sterile goods can be re- duced, usually to half the time. Good control of and mini- mising the number of instru- ments and materials result in less costs and gives the condi- tions of safer handling, decon- tamination and disinfection. A tray system should fa- cilitate the handling of in- struments through the whole hygienic circle. Evaluations of effective tray systems have shown reduced time for han- dling the instruments at disin- fection and sterilisation. Rationalisation of the han- dling of instruments during all parts of work - from prepara- tion to sterile keeping – gives the staff liberty to work with quality improvement and to take a greater part in the treat- ment of patients. Rationalisa- tion of the handling of instru- ments is thereby a good way to improve practice economy. DT June 4-10, 2012United Kingdom Edition About the author Dr Mikael Zimmerman is one of the founding members of AESIC ñ Asso- ciation in Europe for Safety and Infec- tion Control in Dentistry. He is also a member of the subgroup for den- tal professionals within Strama - the Swedish strategic programme against antibiotic resistance. Luxator Extraction Instruments are now the preferred method of performing extractions 3512-11201©DirectaAB Distributed in the UK by Trycare Tel. 01274-88 10 44 Luxator Extraction Instruments were invented by a Swedish dentist to make extractions as trauma free as possible. He developed subtleties in the design only a practising dentist would appreciate with an acclaimed and ergonomic handle design. For this reason our Luxator instruments are discernably different. page 17DTß Fig 11 Evaluation of the handling of instruments with effective tray systems has shown substantially reduced time Fig 12 Rationalisation of the handling of instruments is a good way to improve practice economy and quality