Why is it important to dry dishes after sterilization?

Autoclave in the dental clinic – why is it important to dry instruments after sterilization?

In dental clinics, patients and the treating staff are exposed to sources of contamination.

Dental clinics are required by health authorities to use an autoclave to sterilize dental instruments.

The purpose of autoclaving hand tools and drilling instruments is to eliminate microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Sterilization in dental clinics using an autoclave is an important link in the process of preventing infection.

Is this goal achievable?

The process of sterilizing instruments in an autoclave consists of three steps:

Air removal, exposure to sterilization conditions (temperature, humidity and time) and the drying stage.

Bacteria require two conditions to reproduce: food and environmental conditions.

The most common food is water in the form of moisture, sweat, and humidity.

A sterile product that comes out of the autoclave must be completely dry. The presence of moisture in a sterilized product may result in the sterilization process being nullified and bacterial growth occurring.

Simple autoclaves that dry the instruments with the door open are only intended for sterilizing instruments intended for immediate use, since drying in them is not complete.

If sterilized instruments are not used immediately, they need to be protected from the environment (moisture, dust) using various packaging (cloth, bags, and sterilization containers) that serve as a microbiological barrier that prevents contamination of the packaged instruments.

How do we maintain the sterilization of packaged tools?

For over 10 years, health authorities around the world have recommended the use of more sophisticated autoclaves, which have a vacuum system used to remove air from hollow instruments (such as dentist's turbines) in order to ensure perfect sterilization. In autoclaves of this type, the packaged instruments are dried with a complete vacuum when the autoclave door is closed.

This method is the only one that ensures that the packaged dishes that come out of the autoclave will be dry and not exposed to bacterial growth.

Only CLASS B/S autoclaves with vacuum systems meet the stringent requirements for sterilizing packaged instruments.