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Dental autoclaves are a must-have for any practice looking to execute infection control best practice. Autoclaves are key to ensuring all dangerous microbes are wiped from dental instruments and handpieces before being reused. As easy as it is to recognise how fundamental autoclaves are, what’s not as easy is working out which one is best suited to the needs of your practice. The best autoclaves are those that combine all the essential features for convenient sterilisation with a few nice-to-haves at a fair price.
What Essential Features Should an Autoclave Have?
Autoclaves are not cheap. You will never find a quality B Class autoclave for anything less than £1,000 and prices can go as high as £8,000. B class autoclaves (vacuum sterilisers) are the most suitable machines for dental practices in accordance with European Standard 13060.
Regardless of what end of the price range you are looking, there are some boxes that all good systems should tick. These include:
- Short operating times
- Simple operation
- Load space for multiple pouches
- Produces dry pouches
- Reliable documentation
- Compact to fit small spaces on worktops
- Gentle on instruments
