Municipal water quality is highly variable depending on your location. This chemical variability can undermine the effectiveness of microbial treatment products like straws and tablets and potentially reduce the life of your instruments.
Dental unit waterline (DUWL) management is vital in dentistry to control biofilm buildup, minimize the risk of waterborne infections, and maintain the quality of the dental water supply to ensure safe and effective dental treatment for patients.
NXT DryVac is a tankless dry vacuum system that provides superior performance with low acquisition costs and virtually no maintenance, all in a compact footprint for easy installation.
Featuring top-tier technology, the NXT Hg5 represents the gold standard in amalgam separation for your office. Our signature separator—the NXT Hg5—comes in several sizes to fit the needs of your practice.
Waste management is essential in dentistry to reduce the environmental impact of dental practices, prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and comply with regulatory requirements.
Solmetex provides dental practices with simple, safe, and effective solutions for removing harmful contaminants from their water supply, enabling safe disposal and recycling of hazardous waste, and best-in-class products for wastewater evacuation.
Sterisil ensures water for non-surgical procedures is clean and safe by offering effective, and convenient water purification, treatment, and testing solutions.
DryShield leads the market in providing clinicians with isolation technology that maximizes ease, comfort, safety, and productivity.
Expand your dental water safety education with resources like CE courses, tutorials and videos, and the Water Matters blog.
Specifically amalgam separators, with a primary focus on ensuring dental practices remain compliant with the ever-changing regulatory environment.
Solmetex recognizes that without the loyal support of our dental suppliers, much of our success would not be possible.
Find our current promotions for Solmetex, Sterisil and DryShield in one place.
Make sure your office stays compliant with EPA and state regulations.
Keep track of your amalgam waste recycling certificates.
Log, trend, and respond to ongoing bacteria testing efforts.
Schedule your orders to ensure you are never without products.
Register your water safety products and receive proof of installation certificates.
Request customer support and track your case to its resolution.
We have extensive experience in
water chemistry, chemical separation science, process engineering,
high performance manufacturing, as well as federal, state and local
regulations governing water and hazardous wastes.
Print and place your shipping label on the box containing your recyclables.
Print and place your recycling certificate on your full amalgam separator canister, or lead buckets to be EPA-compliant.
Purchase products for all your dental water management needs from Solmetex, Sterisil, and DryShield.
If you’ve been keeping up with the Sterisil waterline blog, it’s nothing new to you that regulations concerning waterline treatment and effluent handpiece water quality are a hot button issue in dentistry right now. The Mycobacterium outbreak in Orange County, CA has put the subject on the radar of regulators across the country. Now the state of Washington is reacting with a proposed rule change that seeks to hold practices accountable for their water quality through bacteria testing mandates.
WAC 246-817-660 was introduced to the Washington State Department of Health in November of 2018. The proposed rule laid out their intent in two provisions.
What does this mean for clinicians in WA? To start with, you need to take steps to ensure your water meets the EPA drinking water standard. As we’ve said many times in this blog, it is highly unlikely that water without continuous treatment, once introduced to a chair, will be able to meet the EPA drinking water standard of <500CFU/ml standard. So, treat your lines with a non-oxidizing, EPA approved waterline cleaner that’s safe for patients, staff, and equipment if you’re not doing so already.
Next, read your waterline treatment manufacturer’s labeling recommendation on water testing if you haven’t done so already. Then heed those recommendations. In lieu of those recommendations, test your lines with a third party lab specializing in dental water microbes on a quarterly basis.
The next provision specifies that any disruption or disturbance to the water system will warrant a retest. Personally, I would recommend shocking the lines with an EPA approved shock treatment, like Citrisil, after any such occurrence and prior to the water test. Better safe than sorry and better to spend a small amount on shock to ensure a passing result than to have to spend more on a second water test because the first one failed.
If you fail, the proposed rule specifies that a remediation action be taken. And by remediation they mean shock the lines. The proposed rule does not specify that you test again in this instance.
Finally, you will need to keep records of all this water test data for at least five years. The logged information will need to contain the test results, date, and person(s) conducting the water test. Many waterline treatment manufacturers offer log sheets or you can make them yourself.
The State of Washington’s approach to ensuring effluent handpiece water purity is somewhat different than say, California, whose proposed water quality rule specifies action points based on procedures or situations where contaminated water presents a higher risk of infection to the patient. The problem with California’s proposed rule is that for the bulk of procedures performed by general practice dentists, both practice staff and patients would still be exposed to potentially infectious pathogens. This is because unless a procedural line is crossed, the issue will not be addressed. Therefore, issues such as contaminated aerosols and spatter, which, when inhaled, can threaten not only patients but staff as well, are still an issue to contend with for clinics who elect to only address the problem when that procedural threshold has been met. While some in the California Dental Association have implied that treatment of handpiece water is a given, it is not a requirement, and the numbers of dentist not treating in California is still a problem.
Regardless of where you live in the United States, this problem is not going away. Nobody wants to be the next Children’s Dental Group. Not treating is just not worth the risk. If this proposed language is giving you anxiety because you’re not currently doing anything, worry not. You have options and they’re not all bad. Sterisil has been working to solve this problem since 1999. Our waterline products are non-toxic, non-oxidizing, and safe for patients, staff, and equipment. Don’t wait for this language to become an enforceable rule. Take action now. Contact your local Sterisil Dental Water Compliance Specialist today.