Keeping on top of validation

It has been established that on-going maintenance, servicing and validation are integral to the long-term functionality of a dental autoclave. In turn, this benefits the team by optimising workflow efficiency and supporting excellent patient care every single day. Practice staff and external technicians share the responsibility for keeping equipment in top shape, and they must work together for the best results. As such, it is important for dental professionals to understand what their engineer does during a practice visit and how they can get the very most from this time.

A technical check

Dental equipment engineers will cover a range of tasks depending on whether they are assessing, servicing or validating the equipment in question. A regular maintenance check involves testing the mechanical and electrical aspects of the autoclave and fixing any minor issues before they can become bigger problems. Validation requires the engineer to evaluate specific functions to ensure the correct conditions are consistently achieved in the autoclave, which include steam penetration, temperature and pressure/cycle times. Annual PSSR testing and validation is a legal requirement for all autoclaves.