STERILIZATION INSTRUMENT CASSETTES BriteSources.com offers many different types of quality Stainless Steel Dental Instrument Cassettes. Some of the benefits of our sterilization cassettes include: 1. Easy to use for instruments cleaning, rinsing, sterilization and storage for medical and dental instruments. 2. Unique design of tray helps quick water flow and instrument drying. 3. Mesh pattern of the holes allow active power of ultrasonic cleaner to reach the instruments for excellent cleaning outcome. 4. Made of stainless steel and is electro-polished for rust free usage. 5. Choice of 10 designs Why Use Sterilization Cassettes? Sterilization cassettes protect clinicians and staff members by minimizing exposure to sharps; improve efficiency and productivity by providing a systematic approach to instrumentation; and reduce costs and increase revenue by simplifying sterilization procedures and providing more time for patient care.
Increase Safety Clinicians and staff can practice safer because the need to handle sharp instruments during the sterilization process is greatly reduced. It has been shown that most exposures to sharps injury and cross contamination occur in the sterilization process. Estimates are that each incident of exposure can represent up thousands of dollars in treatment costs. Eliminating the need to handle sharp instruments during the sterilization process will reduce the risk of injury for your staff and protect your instruments from premature dulling and failure.
Improve Efficiency An office using a sterilization cassette system will realize significant improvements in productivity and efficiency while reducing costs. Cassettes eliminate the most time consuming and labor intensive portion of the sterilization process, the need to disassemble and reassemble procedure kits. Studies have shown that an office will save approximately 4 to 6 minutes per procedure by using cassettes. If each practitioner in the office sees on average 10 patients per day, the time saved would allow for an additional patient appointment per day. The additional revenue realized quickly offsets the initial investment in cassettes.
Implementing a Sterilization Cassette System When instituting a sterilization cassette system in your dental office, you will first need to examine each procedure instrument kit to determine the appropriate size of cassette. Each sterilization cassette should contain all of the instruments and disposable items for that procedure.
Once you have determined the sizes and number of sterilization cassettes that your office will require, you will need to layout the sterilization area and process. Establish clear areas flowing from dirty to sterile. After a procedure is completed, dirty cassettes will be delivered to the sterilization area. Cassettes can be placed immediately into the ultrasonic cleaner or instrument washer if available. However, if these units are full or in mid-cycle, you will need an area for holding contaminated cassettes.
If using an ultrasonic cleaner, make certain to choose a model that is large enough to accommodate your cassette needs. This will typically be a unit with a tank that is between 3 and 6 gallons. After cassettes are removed from the ultrasonic cleaner, they will need to be rinsed and placed in a rack to dry. Instrument washers have rinsing and drying cycles that will eliminate this step.
Once the cassettes have been cleaned, rinsed and allowed to dry, they may be prepared for sterilization. Cassettes will need to be wrapped with autoclave wrap and sealed with autoclave tape or sealed in an autoclave bag prior to being placed in the sterilizer. The cassettes may then be placed in the autoclave for sterilization. Make certain to choose an autoclave that is large enough to accommodate your cassette needs. This will typically mean a unit that has an 11-inch chamber.
After the cassettes have been sterilized and allowed to cool and dry, they will remain in the autoclave wrap or bag and stored for future use. You will need to assign a cool dry area to store the cassettes. Prior to a procedure, the cassette is delivered to chairside, un-wrapped and opened for the patient appointment. After the procedure, instruments and sterilizable accessories are placed in the cassette and disposable items are removed. The cassette is then closed and transported to sterilization.
The Bottom Line Sterilization cassettes protect the health and safety of those in the office, while protecting instruments from premature dulling or breakage. Proper implementation of a cassette sterilization system will maximize office efficiency and productivity providing a more organized, stress free environment in which clinicians spend more time providing patient care.
