Abstract
Objective:This study compared the cutting capacity of carbide burs sterilized with microwaves and traditional sterilization methods.Material and Methods:Sixty burs were divided into 5 groups according to the sterilization methods: dry heat (G1), autoclave (G2), microwave irradiation (G3), glutaraldehyde (G4) or control – no sterilization (G5). The burs were used to cut glass plates in a cutting machine set for twelve 2.5-min periods and, after each period, they were sterilized (except G5) following the protocol established for each group. The cutting capacity of the burs was determined by a weight-loss method. Data were analyzed statistically by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's test.Results:The means of the cutting amount performed by each group after the 12 periods were G1 = 0.2167 ± 0.0627 g; G2 = 0.2077 ± 0.0231 g; G3 = 0.1980 ± 0.0326 g; G4 = 0.1203 ± 0.0459 g; G5 = 0.2642 ± 0.0359 g. There were statistically significant differences among the groups (p<0.05); only dry heat sterilization was similar to the control.Conclusion:Sterilization by dry heat was the method that least affected the cutting capacity of the carbide burs and microwave sterilization was not better than traditional sterilization methods.
Highlights
Dental burs have been identified as a source of crosscontamination between patient and dental personnel[12,13]
The statistical analysis showed that some of the sterilization methods evaluated in this study affected the performance of the carbide burs (p
Burs treated with dry heat did not differ significantly (p>0.05) from the non-treated control burs
Summary
Dental burs have been identified as a source of crosscontamination between patient and dental personnel[12,13]. They may become heavily contaminated with necrotic tissues, saliva, blood and potential pathogens during use. Questions have been raised about the effects of different sterilization methods on the microscopic characteristics, durability and strength of dental instruments, especially burs[3,7,8,19,23,27], which can have their sharpness and ability to effectively cut tooth structure altered[33]. While sterilization and disinfection procedures are vital to guarantee the safety of dental treatment[20], these procedures may generate alterations in the characteristics and performance of the burs[3,8,23,27]. In order to associate a safe procedure with the least possible structural alterations in burs, the effects and limitations of each sterilization method must be known
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