Hydrim Instrument Washer for Automated Dental Instrument Washing

An instrument washer that allows you to avoid the many steps involved in manual washing or ultrasonic cleaners.

The importance of infection control in dentistry and other healthcare settings cannot be overstated. An important aspect that should not be overlooked? Instrument cleaning and disinfecting. SciCan’s HYDRIM L110W G4 Instrument Washer provides a safe, effective, and efficient way to clean instruments, allowing staff to focus on the most important thing in a dental practice—the patients.

Cleaning is always the first step in any disinfection process. The 2003 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental (CDC) Health Care Settings state, “If visible debris, whether inorganic or organic matter, is not removed, it will interfere with microbial inactivation and can compromise the disinfection or sterilization process.”

In other words, if plaque, calculus, blood, or dental materials remain on dental instruments during sterilization, steam may not be able to penetrate this debris, so the instrument can’t be guaranteed to be sterile and safe for patient care.

Automated vs Manual Cleaning

Automated instrument cleaning systems such as SciCan’s HYDRIM instrument washer are a better option than manual cleaning. So many of the instruments used for dental procedures— explorers, periodontal probes, curettes, and other scaling instruments—have tips that can be as sharp as or sharper than household knives. These sharp tips should be handled as little as possible and with extreme care. Manual cleaning places dental personnel at risk for injury while handling these instruments—especially during scrubbing. Ultrasonics frequently are used as an automated cleaning method, but some instrument handling is still required.

The safest method of instrument cleaning is an instrument washer. Using this method, instruments are handled the least—especially if they are locked inside a cassette.

A Smart Washer

The HYDRIM instrument washer can accommodate 10 full-size cassettes and allows offices to turnover 2,500 thoroughly cleaned instruments in a 10-hour day. The efficient and effective washer is easy to use and provides consistent cleaning because each cycle cleans the same and correct doses of cleaning solutions are used each cycle.

When the 2003 CDC Guidelines were published, smart technology in instrument processing did not exist. Just as the latest cell phones offer faster communications than previous networks, G4 technology has the capacity to improve efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness of instrument washers. Who would have anticipated “smart” instrument washers?

G4 technology was introduced into dental equipment in 2012-2013 and connects devices via the internet to the manufacturer’s headquarters. Designed as a self-monitoring unit, HYDRIM’s WIFI-enabled G4 technology can connect and send information to your smart devices or computer, providing easily accessible cycle data, maintenance reports, and service logs. In addition, the machine’s large touch screen provides in-depth cycle info and allows users to view current operation.

Safety and Quality Assurance

In addition to being safer, instrument washers such as HYDRIM are efficient and time saving. No pre-soaking is required, and the washer can accommodate a large quantity of instruments throughout the workday. A key advantage of HYDRIM is the drying cycle. As instruments emerge from the washer, they are ready to be packaged and placed into the autoclave. An instrument package that is dry after being washed is more likely to be dry after the sterilization cycle, which is essential to prevent moisture from absorbing contaminants and compromising the sterilization process. The HYDRIM instrument washer can provide safety, consistency, efficiency, and quality assurance to dental instrument reprocessing within any practice.

Contact a DHP Equipment Specialist to order a Hydrim G4 for your practice, 800.626.2163. Explore more SciCan Inc. products and offers with DHP.