Single vs. multi-use dental products in a post-COVID dental setting

There’s more to infection control than masks and hand sanitizer. It’s time to take a closer look at consumables: reuse and reprocess, or go disposable?

Nonetheless, products under each umbrella can be reprocessed safely.  After use, non-critical items should be cleaned, and then disinfected if the product is visibly soiled.  Guidelines indicate that heat-tolerant, semi-critical dental products should be heat sterilized.  The CDC recommends that heat sensitive, semi-critical products should be reprocessed using high level disinfection or replaced with a disposable alternative.  The FDA has published an additional guidance for multiple use intra-oral dental dispensers, such as those that deliver adhesive or composite materials.²  It states that these devices that cannot be sterilized or high level disinfected based upon their design must be covered with a barrier sleeve during use to prevent contact with mucous membranes. Multi-use critical products, on the other hand, must always be sterilized between patient uses.

According to the CDC, dental offices should consider adopting single-use products when they replace multi-use, semi-critical products that cannot tolerate heat sterilization.³ The guidelines also indicate that similarly classified, multi-use products may be used safely if the manufacturer’s reprocessing instructions are followed correctly. 

But why should you consider single-use products and delivery systems? Single-use products take the risk of patient-to-patient infection out of the equation – infection control is baked into the product design. Of course, the risk of patient-to-patient transmission is also addressed when a multi-use device has been appropriately reprocessed. But if it gives you peace of mind, or if you think it may give your patients confidence, replacing multi-use products that are routinely used intraorally with single-use alternatives may be the right way to go.³

Further, the CDC advises that offices should consider not just the initial product cost of a single-use item, but also the time, cost and material savings obtained by eliminating the need for sterile processing of that product.³ At a time when so many procedures and protocols have ratcheted up and your office workflow is almost unrecognizable, every factor – from expenses to application needs to infection risk – is worth exploring.

Dental products, of course, are not one-size-fits all. Variables like application needs, ergonomic or control considerations, and more may well be worth reprocessing a multi-use version of a product rather than switching to a single-use option.

Before making a commitment to adopting single-use products, allow these considerations to guide your decision-making process:

1. Consider replacing heat-sensitive products that encounter the intra-oral environment with single-use options
2. Single-use products eliminate the risk of cross contamination between patients
3. Single-use products may increase efficiency by reducing reprocessing time and effort
4. Multi-use products can also be used safely by following appropriate reprocessing protocols 

References

1. https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/pdf/safe-care2.pdf 
2. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/dental-devices/multiple-use-dental-dispenser-devices
3. https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/faqs/single-use-devices.html