Can protein contamination be removed from hand endodontic instruments?

Area of Science:

• Dental instrument reprocessing
• Biomedical engineering
• Infection control

Background:

• Protein contamination on reusable dental instruments poses a risk to patient safety.
• Effective cleaning protocols are essential to prevent disease transmission.
• Current cleaning methods may not fully remove biological debris from endodontic files.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify protein contamination on clinically used hand endodontic files.
• To compare the efficacy of ultrasonic cleaning and washer-disinfectors in protein removal.
• To evaluate the impact of presoaking on cleaning effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Quantification of total protein using a colorimetric assay.
• Collection of clinically contaminated endodontic files from dental practitioners.
• Comparison of ultrasonic cleaning, washer-disinfector processing, and presoaking protocols.

Main Results:

• Protein was detected on 29 out of 30 new endodontic files.
• The median protein contamination on used files was 2.046 microg.
• Presoaking in Alkazyme followed by Miele G7881 washer-disinfector cleaning was the most effective method.

Conclusions:

• A presoak in Alkazyme combined with Miele G7881 washer-disinfector processing is the optimal pre-sterilization cleaning method for hand endodontic files.
• Existing cleaning methods may not completely eliminate protein contamination from reusable dental instruments.
• These findings have significant implications for the reprocessing of all reusable dental instruments to ensure patient safety.