Saliva's Affect on Dental Instruments
In dental procedures, it's not shocking to anybody that saliva often gets onto dental instruments. After all, dental instruments are inserted directly into peoples' mouths. It's also not surprising that saliva can often have a pretty negative effect on dental instruments. This is why it's so important for dental tools to be thoroughly cleansed and sterilized after every use. That way, the dental instruments will be fresh and sanitary and ready for the next patient's mouth.
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Significance
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In saliva, there are microscopic blood pathogens that are capable of destroying and causing dental instruments to deteriorate gradually. This erosion of dental instruments can lead to the tools becoming rusty if they are not properly sterilized, disinfected and stored. This is precisely why dental instruments should be cleaned after exposure to every single patient.
Identification
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Dental instruments are generally made out of stainless steel, which is a material that is capable of rusting easily. It's not the actual saliva from the mouth that causes the tools to become damaged, but the blood of the blood pathogens contained inside of the saliva.
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Prevention/Solution
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Right after a dental procedure, dental instruments should be cleaned, because if the saliva remains on the instruments for too long, the erosion process can start. So after a patient is through with a dental tool, it's important to scrub the instrument using a brush and some dental disinfectant. Then, the instrument should be packed up into a sterilization pack and put through a sterilization machine for further cleaning.
Theories/Speculation
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Another big problem that saliva can have on dental instruments is that it can eat away at mirrors. Mirrors are a common tool in dental processes (used to be able to view hard-to-see parts of the mouth, as well as other functions) and saliva is capable of eating away at a mirror, render it unusable afterward. Mirrors must be put through the same extensive cleaning process as all of the other dental instruments for that purpose.
Warning
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Even though it's shocking to think that blood pathogens are contained inside of saliva, it's 100% true. Over half of people have blood in their saliva all of the time. Blood can show up after extensive tooth brushing, after kissing and sometimes even after eating!
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