Sterilization Center
At River Towne Dental, there is no more measured and monitored process then the way our instruments are meticulously sterilized and packaged. Our new sterilization center makes use of an ultrasonic cleaning unit, an automated washing unit, four separate sterilization units, and biologic spore testing.
Biological indicators (BI), also known as spore tests, use viable microorganisms to test sterilizer efficacy. Spore tests are the most accepted means for monitoring sterilization because spores are the most difficult microorganisms to kill. Best practice is not to use instruments from a sterilized load until the results of the BI test are available. However, offices can use a 12- or 24-hour test system. Meaning, the sterility of the dental instruments used, will not be verified that same day. At River Towne Dental, with use of our 3M Attest Rapid BI system, our results are available in just 23 minutes. Our patients can rest assured knowing no instruments ever leave our sterilization center until a successful pass is verified.
But wait, that’s not good enough…
River Towne Dental also makes use of multiple PCD’s. A PCD (Process Challenge Device) is a container designed to offer a challenge to the time, temperature, and pressure of a sterilizer.
While the use of PCD’s is only recommended, we believe this is a must. Even better if it exceeded the parameters. That is the job of a PCD. A PCD is designed to be more challenging for the parameters to be met compared to the other packages inside the sterilizer. In other words, if the PCD passes then all the other packages have most certainly met the parameters of sterilization. A PCD is a quality assurance device offering a challenge to the testing of sterilization to monitor the validity of every sterilization.
