Dental Handpiece Sterilization - 1992

"Considerations in selecting cleaning
methods and equipment include:

Food Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that reusable dental handpieces and related instruments (such as air/water syringes and ultrasonic scalers) be heat sterilized between each patient use. Handpieces that cannot be heat sterilized should be retrofitted to attain heat tolerance. Handpieces that cannot be retrofitted and thus not heat sterilized should not be used. Chemical disinfection is not recommended.

Food Drug Administration (FDA)
United States

Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings - 2003

"Because the majority of semi critical items in dentsitry are heat tolerant, they should be sterilized using heat. If a semi critical item is heat-sensitive, the DHCP should replace it with a heat-tolerant or disposable alternative. Therefore, handpieces and other intraoral instruments should be removed from the air and water lines of dental units, cleaned, and heat-sterilized between patients..."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Statement of Reprocessing Dental Handpieces - 2018

Between patients, dental health care personnel (DHCP) should clean and heat-sterilize handpieces and other intraoral instruments that can be removed from the air and waterlines of dental units. If a dental handpiece cannot be heat sterilized and does not have FDA clearance with validated instructions for reprocessing, do not use that device.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities - 2008

Scientific articles and increased publicity about the potential for transmitting infectious agents in dentistry have focused attention on dental instruments as possible agents for pathogen transmission207, 208. The American Dental Association recommends that surgical and other instruments that normally penetrate soft tissue or bone (e.g., extraction forceps, scalpel blades, bone chisels, periodontal scalers, and surgical burs) be classified as critical devices that should be sterilized after each use or discarded. Instruments not intended to penetrate oral soft tissues or bone (e.g., amalgam condensers, and air/water syringes) but that could contact oral tissues are classified as semicritical, but sterilization after each use is recommended if the instruments are heat-tolerant.

Heat-tolerant alternatives are available for most clinical dental applications and are preferred

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities - 2008

a. In addition, after each use, sterilize dental instruments that are not intended to penetrate oral soft tissue or bone (e.g., amalgam condensers, air-water syringes) but that might contact oral tissues and are heat-tolerant, although classified as semicritical. Clean and, at a minimum, high-level disinfect heat-sensitive semicritical items. Category IA.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Sterilization and Disinfection

Because the majority of semicritical items in dentistry are heat-tolerant, they should be sterilized using heat. If a semicritical item is heat-sensitive, the DHCP should replace it with a heat-tolerant or disposable alternative. If none are available, the item should, at a minimum, be processed using high-level disinfection.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Module 7 - Sterilization and Disinfection of Patient-Care Items and Devices Semicritical Items

• Lower risk of transmission
• Should be heat sterilized or high-level disinfected

NOTE: If a semicritical item is heat-sensitive, DHCP should replace it with a heat-tolerant or disposable alternative. If none are available, the item should, at a minimum, be processed using high-level disinfection.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Sterilization and Disinfection

Because the majority of semicritical items in dentistry are heat-tolerant, they should also be sterilized using heat. If a semicritical item is heat-sensitive, DHCP should replace it with a heat-tolerant or disposable alternative.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DeKalb County, United States

Infection Control and Sterilization - 2018

In April, 2018, the CDC released a Statement on Reprocessing Dental Handpieces stressing that handpieces (both high-speed and low-speed) and other intraoral instruments that can be removed from the air lines and waterlines need to be heat sterilized between patients.

American Dental Association
Chicago, USA

Infection Control: Guidelines for Practice Success | Managing Regulatory | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Use CDC's Infection Prevention Checklist for Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care to help make sure the practice is in compliance.

American Dental Association
Chicago, USA

Dental Infection Control

The CDC, ADA, most state dental licensing boards, and dental handpiece manufacturers all recommend heat sterilization between patient uses. Virtually all handpieces currently in production are heat-tolerant, and those that are not can be retrofitted to allow heat-processing. High-level disinfection via chemical germicides cannot be biologically monitored to assure sterility.

Association of Dental Safety
Atlanta, United States

Re: Sterilization of Dental Instruments and Handpieces

Despite this information, a review of Joint Commission survey data has identified either a lack of awareness of the requirements or misinterpretation of manufacturer's instructions — in addition to a lack of staff training and leadership oversight — related to the sterilization of dental devices. This has resulted in multiple declarations of an Immediate Threat to Health and Safety of patients.

For this reason, if an organization has been improperly reprocessing dental handpieces or any other instruments requiring sterilization using sterilization parameters that do not match the device (e.g., handpiece) manufacturer instructions they should seek assistance from their local health department or state healthcare associated infection liaison for assistance in determining if any patient follow-up is indicated.

The Joint Commission
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois

Infection Prevention and Control

Select an infection control guideline applicable to dental (i.e. CDC Dental Infection Prevention Guidelines)

The Joint Commission
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois