For dental professionals, nothing is more important than cleanliness and proper sterilization procedures. The condition of your equipment speaks to the caliber of your dental practice. Without a properly regimented cleaning cycle, you run the risk of hazardous patient bioburden accumulating on your instruments.
While imperceptible at first, biological waste can rapidly build up if you don't employ some kind of cleaning method prior to sterilization. If you fail to remove patient bioburden prior to sanitization, you run the risk of unwanted matter getting "baked" right onto your tools. That's why ultrasonic cleaners have become such an important part of the dental profession's universal hygiene practices.
The Importance of Ultrasonic Cleaning
Ultrasonic cleaning has become a matter of good infection control for dental professionals everywhere. It is an industry standard. Ultrasonic cleaning is a method used to pre-treat soiled dental tools. Over the course of each patient visit, the instruments you used to clean their teeth and probe their mouth, such as your scaler, sickle probe, or mouth mirror pick up biological residue known as "bioburden." Bioburden is a combination of half-eaten food remnants and shedded biological material like blood and mucus.
In order to properly sterilize your equipment in between each patient, instruments must pass through a machine called an autoclave that uses steam, pressure, and high levels of heat to fully disinfect the tool. The process is similar to using a dishwasher. Just like a dishwasher, however, you must first get rid of large particles that are stuck to the instruments before you "wash" them in the autoclave, otherwise the material will harden and stick to your implements.
Ultrasonic cleaners are the most reliable method for eliminating unwanted bioburden prior to sterilization. Ultrasonic cleaners use sound waves to rapidly vibrate either a detergent or an enzyme bath up to 37,000 cycles every minute. This creates millions upon millions of tiny bubbles that strike the surface of your instruments with relatively high force, removing unwanted blood, saliva, and food particles from your tools.
The Best Ultrasonic Cleaners For Your Practice
There are a wide range of ultrasonic cleaner products available for use in your practice's ultrasonic bath. Not all products are created equally, however.
Historically speaking, most ultrasonic baths used a detergent-based cleaner. While detergents were highly effective at removing particulate buildup, there was a trade-off. Detergents tend to leave an oily residue in their wake. Modern best practices dictate that you use enzymatic cleaners instead.
In their current iteration, enzymatic cleaners employ multiple enzymes to help loosen debris prior to sterilization. Below, Discount Disposables has compiled four of the best ultrasonic cleaning products available on the market.
Pro One SonicTab Ultrasonic Tablets
Our curated selection begins with the Pro One Sonictab Ultrasonic Tablets. Retailing at $49.95 for an 80 count box, this particular ultrasonic cleaner is one of the best values on the market. Each tablet makes ¾ of a gallon of ultrasonic bath.
The Pro One SonicTab product has a reputation for being one of the strongest enzymatic cleaners on the market, especially at such an affordable and economic price point. This product features powerful protease compounds that excel at dissolving hard-to-remove blood, tissue, and bioburden from your instruments.
Not only are the Pro One SonicTab Ultrasonic Tablets an effective cleaning product, they also help you to preserve the life of your dental tools. Each tab contains a neutral pH balance and special anti-corrosive formula to help keep your picks and scalers at peak performance longer. The resulting ultrasonic bath is mint scented, adding a fresh, clean finish to your pre-sterilization process.
EfferZyme Ultrasonic Cleaning Tablets
The next item on our list is the EfferZyme Ultrasonic Cleaning Tablet by Crosstex. This ultrasonic cleaner is perfect formulated to cut through bioburden buildup quickly and efficiently. The EfferZyme tablets use a protease enzyme combination to eradicate grime and detritus on your dental instruments rapidly, so you don't miss out on valuable face-to-face time with your patients.
Unlike some fast acting enzymatic cleaners, the EfferZyme Tablets are pH neutral and do not contain any alkaline compounds, making for a more gentle, anti-corrosive bath. The EfferZyme Ultrasonic Cleaning Tablets retail at $53.95 for a 52 count box, with each tablet making a half gallon worth of pre-soak bath.
Tartar and Stain Remover
Crosstex's Tartar and Stain Remover is the only detergent ultrasonic cleaner on our carefully selected list. This particular detergent is ideally suited for situations that require extra cleaning power. It's phosphate-free formula easily strips unwanted buildup from your equipment. Each gallon-sized bottle contains enough acid-based detergent to melt away even the toughest tobacco and food stains. In fact, Crosstex's Tartar and Stain Remover is powerful enough to remove extra cement from crowns and bridgework.
A gallon-sized container retails for $33.95 and comes ready to use with no additional mixing or preparation required. Despite its raw cleaning power, this particular detergent is biodegradable and easy on the environment.
CrossZyme Enzyme Ultrasonic Cleaner
The final product on our list is Crosstex's CrossZyme Enzyme Ultrasonic Cleaner. Retailing at $37.95 per gallon, this enzymatic cleaner features a unique and powerful combination of cleaning agents to help keep your dental instruments clean and sterile.
The CrossZyme Enzymatic Cleaner is specially formulated to work on a wide variety of materials including plastic, glass, aluminum, and stainless steel. Of special note are the rust inhibitors that this particular cleaner contains. Despite its versatility and power, the CrossZyme cleaner is also environmentally friendly; it is free from all phosphates and chlorides and biodegradable. The formula is pH neutral, and contains chelated minerals for special use in areas with hard water concentrations. CrossZyme enzymatic cleaner also includes D-limonenes which help to radically improve the solution's dissolving action.
The Most Powerful Cleaners on the Market
Sanitation is essential to your dental practice. You need the right blend of pre-soak ultrasonic cleansing and sterilization to prevent infection and provide your patients with a hygienic experience. Discount Disposables offers a full range of detergents, enzymatic cleaners, and other infection control products. Come visit us today to see our full lineup and find a cleaning solution specifically tailored to your dental practice.