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Dentists use a variety of dental surgical instruments to provide oral care to patients. After use, dental instruments have harmful, contaminated materials on their surfaces. Germs on instruments can spread to other patients if they are not properly cleaned after use. According to research conducted in Hong Kong, many patients are suspected of facing health risks due to a lack of monitoring during cleaning procedures.
Like dental extraction forceps and mosquito forceps are widely used in dentistry. Surgeons use them during dental procedures for clamping vessels to control blood flow. After surgery, some amount of blood remains on the tool’s surface that needs to be cleaned immediately.
In this article, we will discuss the best way to clean and maintain these forceps.
Steps to Clean and Maintain Mosquito Forceps After Surgery
Cleaning is a necessary step to ensure the safety of patients. After surgery, the forceps contain various germs and debris on the surface that need to be properly cleaned. For this purpose, the instrument passes through several stages of cleaning. Follow the steps given below to properly clean the instrument.
1. Cleaning
There are two types of procedures for cleaning the mosquito dental forceps right after surgery. The important thing to be careful of is to clean the instrument within 15 to 20 minutes after surgery. Otherwise, the blood stains will become difficult to remove and also damage the instrument surface. Early cleaning helps prevent blood from drying on the tool’s surface. Let’s move forward to discuss the best ways of cleaning mosquito dental forceps.
Manual Cleaning
The manual cleaning process means physically removing visible contamination from the surface. The process starts with rinsing the instrument in a cleaning tub. This tub contains temperature-controlled water along with the recommended detergent for cleaning. Keep the tool in the tub for a specified time according to the condition.
After that, take it out of the tub and clean the instrument surface with a soft towel or clean cloth. You may also need handheld soft brushes to remove hard-to-clean debris from the surface. Prefer avoiding stiff wire brushes as they can damage the instrument's structure.
Also, this will cause high maintenance costs to repair the instrument. Soft brushes like nylon or others can effectively clean the surface of the tool without causing any damage to its surface. This is a widely used method of cleaning when combined with an ultrasonic bath. However, some experts do not prefer this method due to human error.
Automated Cleaning
Machine cleaning is an effective method of cleaning dental tools. Dentists ideally use this method for cleaning the blood stains from mosquito dental forceps. The automated cleaning method thoroughly cleans the surface without any errors. As a result, there is not even a slight possibility that blood remains on the instrument surface after machine cleaning.
This in-depth cleaning method involves the use of specialized tools and authorized cleaning agents. Keep the instrument in a tray and add cleaning agents. You need to keep the tool in the machine for a specified time. After this, take the instrument out of the machine and inspect it visually. Make sure there are no visible foreign objects left on the surface.
2. Disinfecting
After cleaning the instrument, the second step is to disinfect the tool. Disinfecting is necessary to remove blood stains from the instruments like mosquito dental forceps. If you do not disinfect the forceps, the infectious materials can damage the surface. That’s why disinfecting is crucial to eliminate all those materials from the tool surface.
In this process, the operator submerges the instrument in an EPA-approved disinfectant for almost 10 to 20 minutes. It is better to check the manufacturer’s guidelines regarding disinfectants and use them accordingly in the dental cleaning procedure. Rinse the mosquito forceps after disinfecting.
This is a necessary step before the sterilization procedure for the removal of all infectious materials and visible debris. Inspect the instruments after cleaning and disinfection to ensure the absence of debris.
3. Sterilization
After thoroughly cleaning the forceps, the final step is to sterilize them so they can be reused. There are many methods to sterilize dental surgical instruments. Steam sterilization is the most efficient procedure to clean forceps containing bodily fluids, saliva, or blood.
In this procedure, the operator passes the tool through an autoclave. The procedure is carried out at a specific temperature for a predetermined period of time. The temperature of all small steam sterilizers is around 134-137 degrees. Moreover, the pressure range is from 2.1 and 2.24 bar gauges for the time period of 3 minutes.
However, these temperature and pressure conditions can vary according to the cleaning conditions. The operator can also use other combinations as well. Also, the instrument can be reused after the sterilization procedure.
4. Drying
Dry the instruments after thoroughly cleaning them. It allows all the moisture to escape from the tool's surface. Run the drying cycle according to the autoclave manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the instruments out of the autoclave for at least 30 minutes, until all of them are dry.
Drying is necessary after cleaning the instruments, as any leftover moisture can erode the instrument’s surface. Bring the tools to room temperature before storing them in containers.
5. Inspection
After cleaning, all devices should be visually inspected with a lighted magnifying glass. Besides routine visual inspection, instruments need to go through micro inspection after cleaning. This helps to show the small fragments of debris that are difficult to see with the naked eye. Here are the following available methods for testing cleaning efficacy:
Cleaning Indicators
Mosquito forceps should be inspected for stains or debris prior to storage. For this purpose, the operators use cleaning indicators. These indicators check whether the disinfector’s parameters are met throughout the cleaning cycle or not. The indicator will automatically break down and change color when the parameters are successfully met.
Cleaning Verification
Verification of the cleaning satisfies users, so they can use the instruments whenever they need. Check each part of the forceps appropriately to ensure patients’ safety. Dental clinics and hospitals use cleaning verification programs to check the effectiveness of the process.
ATP or protein detection testing is a rapid testing method to detect the presence of any biological material on an instrument's surface. Besides visual inspection, this test quickly assesses the gaps in the cleanliness of dental surgical tools. This method also helps prevent any damage to the instruments because of the protein residue.
6. Storage
Make sure your instruments are completely dry before storage. Wet dental instruments can affect the packaging's integrity and also cause erosion on the tool's surface. Ensure you are storing tools in dry containers. Also, wrap each instrument separately before placing them in containers.
Store the forceps in a proper arrangement or order. For example, heavy instruments at the bottom and light at the top. This will prevent the instrument structure from any damage. The most important thing is to store the tools at a moderate temperature.
Wrapping Up!
Cleaning and maintenance of mosquito forceps are critical for reuse. Therefore, you need to clean them with utmost care to ensure there is no leftover debris. If you do not carefully clean the instrument, the infectious materials will remain on the surface which will be harmful to the patients.
In addition to that, these contaminants affect the instrument’s functioning as well. This can lead to rust and corrosion, which results in major maintenance costs.
To get rid of the high costs spent on instrument maintenance, professionals always recommend using quality dental instruments. If you are looking for a reliable source to get high-quality dental tools, then check GerDentUSA. We offer German stainless-steel dental tools that are highly tensile.
The surface of our tools is inert to external chemical reactions, preventing them from rusting and corrosion. That’s why our tools require less maintenance and are usable for longer periods of time.
