Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aim: Orthodontic ligature cutting pliers are expensive. Methods of sterilization should be safe considering patients' health as well as lifetime of orthodontic pliers. The purpose of this study was to compare the wear of orthodontic ligature cutting pliers after sterilizing with dry heat or steam autoclave.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, thirty ligature cutting pliers from 3 different factories (Dentarum-Germany, RMO and ETM-USA) were sterilized in either dry heat or steam autoclave. The amount of wear at the tip of each plier in both groups was measured with a stereomicroscope and digital photomicrography. Wear was defined as the difference of the initial length and the length after 10, 20, 30 cycles of sterilization measured by the distance from a reference line on the tip of the plier. Three way ANOVA was used to compare wear between the two sterilization groups. P<0.05 was considered as the limit of significance.

Results: The amount of wear of the ligature cutting pliers' tip after 10, 20 and 30 cycles in dry heat sterilization was 1.0±0.16, 0.98±0.22 and 0.94±0.31 mm respectively. These figures were 1.16±0.15, 1.16±0.13 and 1.15±0.14mm for steam heat sterilization. The higest wear was observed after 20 cycles of sterilization in autoclavce whereas the lowest was seen in dry heat sterilization after 30 cycles. The differences between the two studied groups were statistically significant (P<0.0001). In addition, increasing sterilization cycles decreased the rate of wear in both groups.

Conclusion: Based on the results of this study routine autoclaving caused more damage and wear at the tip of the pliers than dry heat sterilization.

Background and Aim: Handpieces are in current use in dental practice. Cross contamination from these instruments is very high because of their direct contact with blood and saliva. The purpose of this study was the evaluation of antiviral effects of different disinfectants on dental handpieces.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the effects of 5 groups of different materials and methods of sterilization and disinfection on virus elimination from dental handpieces were evaluated. Groups were as follows: 1- autoclave 2- Solarsept 3- Unisepta 4- Sodium hypochlorite (2% solution of household bleach) 5- Sanosil. 14 handpieces in each group were washed, dried and autoclaved, then contaminated with polio and Herpes Simplex virus type I. Samples were washed with sterile distilled water. Antiviral agents were applied according to the manufacturer or previous investigations. After washing with water, the instruments were washed with MEM (Minimum Essential Medium) and two samples of cell culture from each handpiece were prepared. In each group one handpiece was treated as control. The results were recorded after one week.

Results: The percent of negative cell cultures in each group were as follow: A- For Poliovirus: 1- Autoclave: 100%. 2- Solarsept: 28.6%. 3- Unisepta: 0%. 4- Sodium hypochlorite: 28.6%. 5- Sanosil 92.9%. B- For Herpesvirus: 1- Autoclave: 100%. 2- Solarsept: 100%. 3- Unisepta: 100%. 4- Sodium hypochlorite: 57.1%. 5- Sanosil: 100%.

Conclusion: According to our findings autoclave is the best method for virus elimination from dental handpieces. Sanosil with 92.9% efficiency was the best solution. Solarsept, hypochlorite with special method and Unisepta had the lowest effectiveness.