Chairside decontamination of endodontic files

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Microbiology
• Infection Control

Background:

• Chairside decontamination of endodontic instruments is vital during root canal treatments.
• Maintaining aseptic conditions is essential to prevent microbial contamination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of various chairside decontamination techniques for endodontic files.
• To assess microbial reduction on artificially contaminated endodontic files.

Main Methods:

• Endodontic files were artificially contaminated with Bacillus subtilis spores and Streptococcus mitis.
• Files underwent decontamination using bead sterilizers and gauze wipings (2x2 inch).

Main Results:

• No tested procedure achieved complete sterilization.
• Bead sterilizers showed the highest decontamination effectiveness among methods evaluated.
• Gauze wipings consistently reduced microbial counts by over 90%.

Conclusions:

• Wiping endodontic files with 2x2 inch gauze is a highly efficient and practical chairside decontamination method.
• While sterilization was not achieved, gauze wiping offers significant microbial reduction.