Dental burs and endodontic files: are routine sterilization procedures effective?

Area of Science:

• Dental instruments
• Sterilization protocols
• Infection control

Background:

• Dental burs and endodontic files have complex designs that hinder effective precleaning and sterilization.
• Current sterilization protocols for these instruments require careful consideration.
• The possibility of classifying these instruments as single-use devices has been raised.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of current dental sterilization techniques for endodontic files and dental burs.
• To determine if new dental burs and endodontic files are sterile upon arrival from manufacturers.

Main Methods:

• Assessed the sterility of new and used dental burs and endodontic files.
• Tested new instruments directly from packaging, with and without sterilization.
• Precleaned, packaged, and resterilized used instruments before pathogen testing.
• Incubated individual items in Todd-Hewitt broth for 72 hours to detect bacterial growth.

Main Results:

• Sterilization was 100% effective for new, unused burs and files.
• Sterilization was less than 100% effective for used instruments.
• Contamination rates after sterilization ranged from 15% for used burs to 58% for used files.

Conclusions:

• Dental burs and endodontic files from manufacturers are not sterile and require sterilization before initial use.
• The tested resterilization procedures were insufficient for used instruments.
• More effective sterilization methods are needed, or these instruments should be considered for single-use applications.