Wetness and Water Drops Remaining After Sterilization in Autoclave
The Package Comes Out Wet After Sterilization Process, Shouldn't It Be Dry?
If the instruments you take out of the autoclave after sterilization are wet and water drops remain, this poses a negative impact on the sterilization process. Equipment that remains wet after sterilization in an autoclave is an indication that something is wrong at some point in the process. You should take this situation seriously and reveal the reason.
Equipment in the autoclave begins to be exposed to microorganisms as soon as the lid is opened. A dry environment is good for microorganisms not to reproduce. Microorganisms that can contaminate a wet package find the ideal environment for breeding. Thus, the equipment we thought we had sterilized will be contaminated again. If surgical instruments, hand tools such as sponge, mirror, probe, presel, cement spatula, mouth spatula, cement filler, amalgam filler, cretuar, curette, dam, and implants are not dried well, microorganisms can pass through the packaging and grow on the droplets and especially on the wet paper tissue. They will find the environment. It is very important that the sterilized equipment is completely dried.
Why Does the Package Stay Wet in the Autoclave?
There is no single reason why the package remains wet after sterilization. It may be caused by the autoclave device or the user.
User Caused Reasons:
-
Filling the autoclave with too much equipment,
-
Covering the paper surface that receives steam penetration by stacking the packaged equipment,
-
Choosing the wrong sterilization cycle and drying time,
-
Failure to clean the steam discharge filter at regular intervals,
-
Using water other than distilled and deionized water,
-
Sudden termination of the cycle during sterilization
Causes Originating from Autoclave Device:
-
It should be ensured that the device vacuum system is working well. This error can be prevented if the first start-up of the device is started with a vacuum test every day.
-
Clogging, contamination and calcification may occur in the device, steam generator, steam pipes, steam filters and valves. If distilled / deionized water is used, it is unlikely that these blockages will occur. Distilled / Deionized water provides a more effective sterilization as it increases the steam quality.
-
Power outage during sterilization
The package came out wet from the autoclave, what should I do?
If you are taking packaged materials wet from your autoclave, you should first eliminate the user-related reasons listed above. For example, place a single package in the autoclave and start sterilization. If the package comes out dry, it most likely came out wet because the autoclave was filled too much.
If you are sure that there is a problem with the device or would like to get detailed information, please contact our Service Technician and request necessary checks and preventive maintenance and device reminder training.