How To Clean A Dental Spittoon

How do I clean my KaVo dental chair?

FAQs on hygiene of KaVo dental chairs

Which disinfectant should be used for surface cleaning of KaVo dental chairs and what has to be considered? Which hygiene measures are recommended after the treatment of high-risk patients? These and more questions about proper cleaning and hygiene of dental chairs will be answered here!

1. Which disinfectants are permitted for cleaning the surfaces of KaVo dental chairs and what must be kept in mind?

The following disinfectants have been tested and approved for use by KaVo:

Mikrozid Liquid (manufacturer: Schülke & Mayr)
FD 322 (manufacturer: Dürr)
Incidin Liquid (manufacturer: Ecolab)
CaviCide (manufacturer: Metrex)

Please note that KaVo assumes no responsibility for guarantee, warranty or damage compensation claims which arise from the use of other cleaning agents and disinfectants. Please only ever carry out a wipe-down disinfection.

2. What germ reduction functions and rinse programs are there and how do these work (for dental chairs ESTETICA E70/E80 Vision, E50 Life & Primus 1058 Life, and older models i.e. E70, E80, E50, 1058)?

Due to the fact that the water bearing systems can become colonised by various micro-organisms despite compliance with the standards, regular use of the germ reduction liquid is essential (only for water which comes into contact with patients and in conjunction with the DVGW water block).

In this approach, a distinction is made between the following functions:

KaVo continuous germ reduction: By automatically adding KaVo Oxygenal 6 germ reduction liquid the amount of germs in the treatment water is continually reduced.
The intensive germ reduction prevents the growth of micro-organisms during periods of stagnation. Therefore it guarantees a hygienic water supply for patients. During the intensive germ reduction, water-bearing tubes are automatically supplied with a 10x stronger concentration of KaVo Oxygenal 6. The intensive germ reduction program takes approximately 45 minutes, during which the stronger hydrogen peroxide concentration is active in the system for at least 30 minutes. KaVo recommends starting the intensive germ reduction before the weekend, holiday, etc. and leaving it to take effect over the downtime. The dental chair can be switched off at the start of the program. During commissioning the device is automatically rinsed until the normal concentration of Oxygenal 6 is reach in the device.
All instruments on the dentist and assistant's unit are rinsed with water every 20 seconds during the shortened rinse program (01). The rinse program (02) automatically rinses the water-bearing system for at least 2 minutes and rinses all of the instruments, including the tumbler filler. This enables a significant reduction in microbial accumulation which occurred during the stagnation period.

It is recommended to carry out the rinse program:

At the start of the working day (rinse program 02)
After each patient (shortened rinse program 01)

The closed circular pipeline integrated into the dentist's unit ensures a constant flow of sterilized treatment water (no dead volumes). Furthermore, the formation or build-up of biofilm is effectively prevented by the extremely smooth surfaces of the water-bearing Teflon instrument tubes.

KaVo product manager Joerg Eberle shows the various hygiene functions of the KaVo dental chair ESTETICA E70/E80 Vision and the easy and quick exchange of Oxygenal and DEKASEPTOL.

KaVo-OXYGENAL-6

3. Does the hydrogen peroxide component in the KaVo Oxygenal 6 germ reduction liquid have harmful effects on human health if swallowed?

In the continuous germ reduction, the treatment water contains only a very low concentration (0.02%) of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). This presents no harm to human health in this dosage.

4. What should be done if treatment water concentrated with Oxygenal comes into contact with the patient's eyes?

Firstly, eye contact with a hydrogen peroxide solution should be avoided in any event which requires protective glasses to be worn. If, however, treatment water sterilized with Oxygenal 6 does come into contact with the eyes, they should immediately be rinsed with a large volume of water. Due to the low dosage of 0.02% H₂O₂ permanent damage is not likely.

5. How does treatment water sterilized with Oxygenal act during the extraction of teeth?

As hydrogen peroxide is used in human medicine to rinse wounds and in dentistry for the local disinfection of dental tissue and for haemostasis, Oxygenal 6 presents no danger. Recent studies indicate that hydrogen peroxide does not only disinfect, but also activates the immune defence in wounded areas, in which white blood cells reside. This accelerates the healing process.

6. Are there any allergies to hydrogen peroxide?

No cases have been made known so far and no allergies to hydrogen peroxide were detected. Patients with a known allergy to hydrogen peroxide are not permitted to come into contact with water treated with KaVo Oxygenal 6.

7. How often does Oxygenal 6 need to be replenished?

This is very dependent on how often the intensive germ reduction is carried out, and how often or with how much water the mouth rinsing sink is filled. In our experience, one bottle of Oxygenal lasts for approx. 4 to 6 weeks.

8. Which disinfectant should be used for the suction and drainage systems on KaVo dental chairs?

A special gel is developed with KaVo Dekaseptol. This product has the function to disinfect the suction system and the service water outlets in dental chairs.

9. What is Dekaseptol Gel?

Dekaseptol gel has a bactericide, fungicide, tuberculocide and anti-viral effect. Furthermore it is effective against HBV and HIV. It is listed as a disinfectant with VAH and DGHM.

10. How often does Dekaseptol need to be replenished?

For the KaVo HYDROclean hygiene system (only E70/D80) approx. 25 ml of DEKASEPTOL is pumped through the suction tubes into the suction system of the unit. In addition, approx.10 ml of DEKASEPTOL is dispensed into the spittoon bowl.

With an average total use of approx. 35 ml per use, one litre of DEKASEPTOL will last for approx. 28 HYDROclean cleaning cycles. For an average usage of once per day (more for surgical activities), the bottle must be filled approximately once per month.

11. Which hygiene measures do we recommend after the treatment of high-risk patients?

A surface disinfection of all surfaces contaminated by contact or aerosols with a surface disinfectant tested and approved by KaVo. (Please observe the treatment time stated in the manufacturer's specifications.)
Rinse all water-bearing systems as recommended in the current RKI guidelines (approx. 20 seconds).
Disinfect the drainage or suction system with KaVo DEKASEPTOL gel.
Clean, treat and sterilize all straight and contra-angle hand pieces, handle sleeves, drain tubes, drain tube hand pieces, nibs, manual instruments etc. in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.

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