Effect of Pulsating Vacuum Cleaning Sterilizer on the Cleaning Quality of Dental Handpieces

  Objective  To explore the effect of pulsating vacuum cleaning sterilizer on the cleaning quality of dental handpieces.

  Methods  A total of 390 newly-purchased high-speed dental handpieces were covered in the study. By the random number table method, the handpieces were divided into three groups that were cleaned by different methods—Group A (n=130), pulsating vacuum cleaning sterilizer, group B (n=130), automatic thermal cleaning and disinfection machine, and group C (n=130), manual cleaning. The cleaning quality, internal cavity drying and the length of cleaning time of the three groups were compared.

  Results  The cleaning quality of group A (100%) was better than those of groups B (89.2%) and C (83.8%) and the length of cleaning time of group A (1.13 h) was shorter than those of group B (1.80 h) and C (2.60 h), all showing significant differences (P<0.05). In addition, the cleaning quality of group B was better than that of group C and the length of cleaning time of group B was shorter than that of group C, all showing significant differences (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the internal cavity drying effects between the three groups (P>0.05).

  Conclusions  The pulsating vacuum cleaning sterilizer can effectively improve the cleaning quality of dental handpieces and shorten the cleaning time. Hence, it should be extensively applied and promoted in clinic service.