Recommended Protocol If You’re Suspending or Limiting Care
By Mike Rust, ProEdge
Dedicated Dental Professionals,
First off, thank you for taking great care of your patients. Infection prevention has never been so highlighted, but we know so many of you stay dedicated to the CDC’s recommendations every day.
Second, many offices are reaching out with questions regarding waterline maintenance given that many offices are moving to limited or postponed care. We’ve coordinated with a few other manufacturers to help you know how to mitigate the rapid biofilm development to be expected within your DUWL during limited care.
Recommended Protocol:
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Purge Your Waterlines: Purge or drain all water from all waterlines including A/W syringes, Highspeed handpieces and ultrasonic scalers (e.g. Cavitrons) and let lines dry. Verify that your Slow Speed Handpiece lines are capped by attempting to purge water from them. If water comes out, completely purge these lines as well. Leave lines completely dry until the operatory/practice resumes care.
- If Using Tablets: Purging may not be necessary, but we recommend it across the board in this situation.
- If Using Straws: Purging water from the lines is recommend with straws with prolonged non-use. The straw can be left on the pick-up tube with the bottle reattached.
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Shock Your Waterlines Upon Return: Before resuming care on your dental unit, thoroughly shock the DUWL regardless of the maintenance product utilized.
- If Using Straws: Never shock through a straw unless using Sterisil Straw with Citrisil Shock. Otherwise, remove the straw and utilize a “dummy straw” or uptake tube to shock (See How to Shock Your Dental Unit Waterlines for recommended shock solutions and protocol). Contact ProEdge for a complimentary dummy straw / uptake tube.
- Test Your Dental Unit Waterlines Upon Shocking: Once your DUWL are shocked, test your dental unit water quality to ensure biofilm development during non-use is completely cleaned and CDC guidelines are met.
Consult with your dental unit and dental treatment product manufacturer for specific instructions for use or contact the Team @ ProEdge ([email protected] or 888.843.3343).
