Evaluation of Efficiency of Different Decontamination Methods of Dental Burs: An In vivo Study

INTRODUCTION: Infection control is very important in dentistry. Both dentist and patients are at risk of communicating diseases during treatment procedures. Dental burs have been identified as a source of cross-contamination between patient and dental personnel. AIM: The present study was done to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the pathogenic contamination of dental burs used for tooth preparation and to determine the effective method of sterilization(autoclave, glass bead sterilizer, hot air oven and surgical spirit immersion) of burs used for crown preparation. METHODOLOGY: Dental burs were assessed before and after tooth preparation, also after sterilization burs were evaluated. CONCLUSION: Findings of our study revealed that among the experimental groups used in the present study, Autoclave and Hot air oven was found to be the relatively best method to sterilize burs. Proper cleaning and sterilization of burs should be strictly employed to prevent cross contamination in clinical practice.