A study of water flow efficiency in dental air/water syringe tips after repeated chemiclave sterilization

In response to the need for dental office asepsis, many practitioners sterilize dental air/water syringe tips for each patient. It is hypothesized that repeated sterilization would lead to internal corrosion restricting the water flow. This study was conducted to evaluate consistency of water flow in a series of dental air/water syringe tips after multiple cycles of Chemiclave sterilization. An apparatus was constructed to deliver water at the same pressure and flow to each syringe tip. The flow rates between tips were significantly different (P < .001). Average water flow, in grams per minute, was determined by ten repeat trials for each tip. The tips were retested after 1, 5, and 25 cycles of Chemiclave sterilization. None of tips showed a decrease in water flow efficiency after repeated sterilization cycles. No difference in ability to remove etchant from enamel and dentin could be demonstrated using a 10-second wash.