Sterilisation Efficiency of Dental Burs and Bacterial Species Investigation in Dental Clinics: Comparison Study

In a regular dental facility, the correct management of the pre-cleaning and sterilisation phases plays a significant role in the good management of personnel and instruments. Thorough cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation are critical in dental clinics as most of instruments are reusable in daily practice. However, the sterilisation process of some equipment is difficult because of their complex structure, small size and presence of surface details. One of the most potent devices for cross-infection in dental clinics is a dental bur, present in a variety of materials, shapes and sizes with highly complex surface features. Evidence suggests transmission of viruses such as hepatitis B and bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus can occur because of contamination with saliva, blood or tooth structure remnants. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to investigate the transmittable bacterial contamination and identify the effectiveness of sterilisation protocols adopted by dentists in Najaf city-Iraq. The accurate diagnosis of bacteria was made using the compact Vitek 2 compact system, which is considered one of the modern methods that give very high accuracy in diagnosis. Results suggest that autoclave is still the gold standard approach followed by approximately 60% of clinics. However, pre-cleaning procedures such as brushing and soaking are not always applied, as 15 out of 37 samples showed contamination with Gram-positive species due to insufficient sterilisation set-up. Further local and regional survey is recommended to provide more data about sterilisation effectivity and the level of dental staff awareness of sterilisation guidelines.