In Vitro study on the effectiveness of microwave sterilization in odontostomatology.

BACKGROUND Dental practice is subjected to biologic risk on a daily basis, a risk that could affect both operators and patients. The use of protective devices and medical devices allows to limit and eliminate this risk, especially in the case of cross infections. METHODS The methods of disinfection of surfaces and instruments are different, and could include both physical and chemical methods. In this in vitro study the effectiveness of sterilization of microwave methods was assessed. In this study microwave sterilization with a 1800W protocol for 5 minutes has been performed. RESULTS Once the bacterial contamination of some dental instruments was carried out, and left the latter in culture medium, the disinfection phase was carried out, by inserting the instruments in a microwave chamber. These new sterilization protocols allow to obtain surfaces or instruments sterilization in a short time. CONCLUSIONS The use of this method, although it cannot be used with all materials, has excellent properties for the sterilization of dental medical instruments, even if with lower performance than the conventional autoclave.