Dental Implant Cleaning & Sterilization
All dental offices strive to be a clean and healthy environment for their patients in order to provide top-notch service! Having a clean and sterile environment is crucial to the success of your practice so it is vital that any implant parts be cleaned, disinfected, and sterilized as dictated by clinical procedure. Legal regulations will help you determine exactly what procedure to follow in your state. Before any sterilization process, it is important that implant and implant abutment are kept clean in the lab. Let’s take a look at the process that should be followed for cleaning and sterilizing implant abutments.
Cleaning
1. Rinse the abutment under running water while using an appropriate brush to thoroughly scrub each surface.
2. Use a compatible cleaning solution, such as Johnson & Johnson Cidezyme/Enzol, to fully immerse the abutment. The cleaning solution that you use should not contain any of the following ingredients: organic or mineral acids, organic solvents, halogens, oxidizing agents such as peroxide, aromatics, halogenated hydrocarbons.
3. Finally, rents the implant abutment with clean running water at least three times.
Disinfection
For implant abutments, you should use a high-level disinfectant such as Johnson & Johnson Cidex OPA. With your disinfectant:
1. Soak the abutment for the length of time indicated in the disinfectant instructions.
2. Remove the abutment from the solution.
3. Rinse the abutment under purified water at least three times.
4. Air dry and package the abutment immediately.
To package the abutment in the dental lab, insert the clean and disinfected implant abutment into a single use sterilization pack that meets these requirements: packaging should be suitable for steam sterilization; packaging should protect the abutment from mechanical damage. Only one abutment should be in each package.
Sterilization
1. Most laboratories should have a proper sterilization unit but if that is not available, the dental office will have the necessary equipment.
2. An implant abutment may only be sterilized ones. If contamination occurs, the abutment may be re-sterilized one time after cleaning and disinfection steps have been completed.
3. Steam Sterilization: fractionated vacuum or gravity procedures with sufficient product drying should be followed. The steam sterilizer should fulfill ISO 17665: 2006 or EN 13060 and EN 285 requirements or national standards equivalent. The steam sterilizer should be validated.
Properly sanitizing and sterilizing surgical parts is crucial to the health of the patient and the safety of the practice.