Does autoclaving prevent the transfer of a disease?

What is Autoclaving? Autoclaving is a sterilisation process that is used widely in research, medical fields and dentistry.

The process involves using an autoclave which heats water to above-boiling temperature and produces superheated steam under pressurised conditions.

This creates dry steam in a pressurised (vacuum) environment.

This is highly effective at killing bacteria and other types of microorganisms that are not susceptible to boiling temperatures or chemical treatments that are otherwise used to sterilise equipment.

The dry steam also provides extremely low humidity inside the sterilisation chamber which means that no drying time is necessary.

Modern technology provides for a cooling phase which speeds up the delivery time of sterilised items.

Another advancement that has been made that further enhances the effectiveness of the sterilisation process is an autoclave jacket.

This jacket encloses the entire autoclave, producing steam within the jacket and preventing condensation or moisture developing inside the chamber.

This allows for instruments and other items to be entirely dry at the end of the process.

The jacket is also ideal for optimising sterilisation of wrapped medical instruments or porous materials.

Autoclaves come in different sizes to meet the demands of different environments. 

A smaller version may be found in a dental surgery that requires fewer instruments to be sterilised.

However, larger autoclaves are used to keep up with the ongoing and bulk sterilisation demands of a hospital.

Can Autoclaving Prevent The Spread Of Disease?

Sterilisation is an important factor in both the medical and dental industries when it comes to  sterilising instruments and medical equipment.

This is done in order to prevent the spread of infection and disease that results from microorganisms such as bacteria and spores.

The process was first developed in 1879 and still remains one of the best means of sterilisation available when it comes to preventing the transmission of diseases.

This type of technology has continued to advance and develop over the decades.

What Are The Benefits Of Autoclaving?

There are various benefits in using an autoclave to sterilise medical equipment and instruments as opposed to other sterilisation methods, such as the use of chemicals or heat.

• An autoclave can sterilise a large number of instruments or items at one time depending on the size of the autoclave being used.
• The equipment does not require any manual labour in order to clean the instruments effectively.
• Instruments of different shapes and sizes can be placed inside an autoclave with ease.
• The process will not affect the function of the instruments such as dulling of blades, corrosion or other types of damage.
• Autoclaving is a very fast and effective means of sterilisation and is far better at eliminating bacteria and other microorganisms which prevent diseases from being transmitted.

In the dental industry, an autoclave cycle can last as little as 6 minutes which allows it to comfortably produce instruments that are sterile on an ongoing basis.

The process is 100% safe and has a very fast turnover.

This means at the end of the process, you end up with entirely dry instruments which allow for sterilisation to take place after each use.

This further increases the prevention of disease being transmitted.

If you are searching for the best medical equipment supplier in Australia, including autoclaves, look further than Medical Equipment Australia.

We were originally established in 1952 in order to provide electro-medical products to healthcare professionals across the country.

The company (Medical Equipment Service) was acquired by Medical Equipment Australia in 2009. Since then, we have also expanded into the dental industry.