Purchasing rotary instruments can be a significant but necessary investment for your dental practice. That's why we're going to give you some tips for the proper maintenance and care of contra-angles, turbines, and handpieces in your clinic!
This will ensure their proper functioning, extend their lifespan, and reduce repairs and the resulting expenses for your dental practice.
But above all, it's very important that you always follow the manufacturer's instructions, as maintenance isn't always the same between different brands.
Although we know you're an expert at keeping your rotary instruments in top condition, we hope these tips will be helpful. Let's get started!
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How to perform manual maintenance on rotary instruments
The basic maintenance, common to all manufacturers of rotary instruments for dental clinics, is as follows:
- Cleaning: Clean your rotary instruments regularly. Preferably after each use, even without sterilizing them, as this will guarantee maximum hygiene and prevent cross-contamination.
- Lubrication: In addition, if you have used a contra-angle for cleaning, you should lubricate it immediately with polishing paste. The particles that make up cleaning pastes, due to their abrasive power, penetrate the mechanisms of the contra-angle handpiece, which can cause premature mechanical wear.
Maintenance and sterilization do not cause deterioration in instruments suitable for them. We recommend cleaning and lubricating them at least twice a day; after each sterilization and after a long period of non-use.
Steps for the correct maintenance of rotary dental instruments:
1) Preparation: Remove the bur
First, prepare the instrument by removing the bur. Follow the two steps below:
A) Remove the bur.
B) Disinfect the rotary instrument beforehand with a clean tissue to remove any residue.
2) Cleaning the rotary instrument.
The next step is to clean the instrument:
A) Rinse the rotary instrument with water (temperature below 38ºC).
B) Remove limescale from the nozzle of the spray, if necessary.
C) Perform an internal cleaning using a cleaning spray such as Spraynet and externally with a tissue.
3) Manual and thermal disinfection of rotary instruments
Disinfection is important, so you must follow two steps:
A) Disinfect manually with a surface disinfectant (follow the manufacturer's instructions).
B) Disinfect thermally using a device provided for this purpose.
4) Lubrication: This differs for handpieces and contra-angles and for turbines
Lubrication is essential to ensure the proper functioning of moving parts. A distinction must be made between the different types of instruments:
- Lubrication of contra-angles and handpieces:
- Turbine Lubrication: In this case, you have two equivalent options:
A) Use a lubricant like Lubrimed by inserting it directly into the turbine rotor and rotating it in a U-shape.
B) Use a lubricant like Lubrifluid internally for one second, making sure the oil comes out.
5) Instrument Sterilization
Finally, the maintenance of your instruments should end with sterilization, a crucial step before using your instrument again on the next patient.
A) Place the instrument in a sterilization pouch.
B) Class B autoclave (over 135°C).
As you can see, this is a very simple process to carry out in the day-to-day operations of the clinic. But if you need to simplify and automate this maintenance process as much as possible, you'll also be interested in learning about the best machine to ensure that maintenance is done correctly and in the shortest possible time! We'll tell you about it below.
How does Lubricare 2 work?
It is a very easy-to-use machine that allows for complete maintenance, both cleaning and lubrication, in an automated way.
The machine has four positions; the first two are for cleaning and the next two are for lubrication.
For the contra-angle, it is a standard connection compatible with all brands on the market, and for the turbine, it depends on the coupling used by our turbine. In this case, we have used a Unifix coupling, but we could use any other coupling from another turbine brand.
➜To clean the instruments:
- The door is opened and the instruments are positioned in the cleaning slots.
- The door is closed.
- The positions of the instruments are marked.
- The "Start" button is pressed.
The cycle lasts 25 seconds and cleans both the external and internal surfaces with SprayNet, which cleans all organic debris and dirt that the instrument may have.
➜Once the cleaning cycle is complete, the instruments are lubricated:
- The door is opened and the contra-angle and turbine are removed from the cleaning couplings and placed in the lubrication position.
- The door is closed.
- The positions of the instruments are marked.
- The "Start" button is pressed.
Lubricare 2, in this part of the cycle, introduces oil and air, so that when the instrument exits the machine, it is lubricated and purged of any excess oil. This way, we can work with the instrument in the patient's mouth without needing to purge it again, and we avoid oil drips falling into the patient's mouth.
The Lubricare 2 process is very efficient, very fast, and always the same because it is done by a machine, eliminating the need for manual operation, which can sometimes be performed with varying degrees of care. The machine always performs the process in the same way.
Another very interesting feature of Lubricare 2 is its function to unclog the bur clamping system. When the turbine has a stuck bur or it's not gripping properly, it can be placed in Lubricare 2 to add an extra dose of oil to the collet system. This recovers many turbines where the collet isn't working correctly due to blockage caused by dirt. It also prevents many shipments to technical service for this reason.
What advantages does Lubricare 2 have over manually cleaning instruments?
The difference is significant. Initially, Lubricare 2 might seem like an additional expense in the clinic, but when we use a cleaning spray like SprayNet from Bien Air to clean an instrument internally, spills will occur and we can get our hands dirty. Next, we have to manually lubricate the instrument with the Lubrifluid oil bottle. This means we get messy and use much more spray than if we used Lubricare 2.
- Manual cleaning and lubrication: each bottle lasts for about 80 sprays
- Cleaning and lubrication with Lubricare 2: each bottle lasts for about 400 cycles.
Other tips for maintaining rotary instruments in a dental clinic
Finally, it is very important that if you notice any malfunction in your rotary instruments in the dental clinic, do not use them and call your trusted technician to have them checked.
- Use good quality burs, as they have standardized shanks with very small manufacturing tolerances. If the shank is out of tolerance, it will slip inside the collet when pressure is applied and wear it down very quickly.
- Discard heavily worn burs. This is advisable because, since they don't cut well, they require more pressure, which is transmitted to the bearings, heating them up, carbonizing them, and causing them to wear out prematurely. It is also possible that the bur could become stuck in the collet and you won't be able to remove it.
- Never press the push button to change the bur while the instrument is rotating, as this will prevent unnecessary wear on the button's pusher parts.
- Also, make sure the air reaching the instruments is completely dry. It is recommended that you install a dryer on the dental clinic's compressor.
For those of you who are initiating studies related to dentistry, we hope you will take full advantage of these recommendations.If you are a student, don't forget to visit our special section for students or consult us directly by phone or by mail. hello@dentaltix.com for any questions or group orders
