DBD plasma as a practical approach to sterilization of dental instruments

Abstract

Microbe control and decontamination are necessary for medical equipment that will be used again. Several wet and dry sterilizer technologies, like as autoclaves, ovens, UV systems, and chemical agents, have been widely used to eliminate the possibility of cross-infection between contaminated dental instruments or materials and dental patients. The development of a sterilizer device capable of sterilizing dental equipment through non-toxic materials has been shown to significantly decrease the overall procedure time compared to conventional approaches. Therefore, an investigation was conducted to assess the efficacy of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma device in sterilizing dental instruments under atmospheric pressure conditions. Also, due to Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species (RONS) existence at low temperatures, researchers have been examining the biological effects of cold plasmas for medical applications with promising results. The dental Tweezer, one of the dental tools, was chosen to perform the sterilization process using the DBD plasma device. The Dental Tweezers samples were contaminated with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, and then the DBD plasma device was used to sterilize them for 1, 2, 3, and 4 min, respectively, to figure out the best time to do this. The DBD plasma device successfully killed E. coli and S. aureus. Based on the findings derived from our present investigation, the cold plasma device has impressively proven its efficiency in sterilization.