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For U.S. and foreign patent information, see
LED Curing Light Sleeve
with The SureCure Window ™
Good hygiene is paramount in dentistry. The possibility of infection is
heightened by the potential for cross-contamination; while this is always
the case in medical spaces, dentistry deals most frequently with saliva,
a clear fluid that is not as easily detectable as, for example, blood1. The
list of harmful bacteria that can be found in saliva is long and scary,
including “Mycobacterium tuberculosis, hepatitis B virus, staphylococci,
streptococci, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus types I and II and a
number of viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.” Contamination
is especially common, unsurprisingly, with equipment that is placed inside
or close to a patient’s mouth—such as the curing light wand. It is safe to
say that avoiding cross-contamination is the goal, but what’s the best way
to accomplish it?
Is Disinfecting Enough?
Many practices disinfect their curing light wands after each patient,
hoping that this eliminates harmful bacteria, but of course this method
is not foolproof.2
Firstly, there is the possibility for human error. Even when following
standard disinfecting procedure, it is possible to miss certain surfaces.
Furthermore, a full disinfection after each patient is time-consuming and
inefficient, requiring far more manpower. Finally, there have been cases
where disinfectant materials, over time, affected the equipment they were
meant to protect. In the case of curing light wands, any deficiency in the
flow of light or energy can compromise the quality of cure and can lead
to tooth sensitivity for your patient and expensive rework for the dentist.
Also, any amount of cured composite left on the curing light tip is next
to impossible to remove without damaging the tip which will compromise
light and energy output.
Why a Protective Barrier is Always a Better Option
Where disinfectants fail, disposable barriers are the perfect solution.
As Drs. McAndrew, Lynch, Pavli, Bannon and Milward pose in the British
Dental Journal “The use of disposable barriers removes the need for
repeated autoclaving or disinfecting of light curing tips and is therefore
appealing.”3 Easy to use and apply, these sleeves eliminate the need for
constant cleaning and ensure that whatever is “necessary to break the
chain of infection” takes place4 . Assuming that the barrier is not broken
or compromised, staff need only to remove the sleeve from the curing light
and dispose of it at the end of each patient visit.
Why You Should Use Custom Fit Protective
Barriers on Your LED Curing Light
In addition, Mary Govoni stated that, “Barriers make sense for many
smaller pieces of equipment, such as digital X-ray sensors, intraoral
cameras, curing light wands, and toggle-style switches on older
patient chairs.” 2
TIDI® Products, a leader in single-use infection prevention products, is the
very first manufacturer to offer custom-fit, disposable curing light barriers
— the TIDIShield® Curing Light Sleeve. Designed to withstand normal
use, these barriers ensure the safety and security of your patients. Even
more importantly, they will not damage the curing light as disinfectants
might do. In fact, the TIDIShield® Curing Light Sleeve will actually
preserve the integrity of your equipment through the use of a SureCure
window, which allows the wand to be used to its full capacity, without
compromising the depth or quality of cure. Each curing light sleeve comes
packaged in its own protective wrapper for true infection prevention and
eliminates any risk of cross-contamination between patients.
Give your staff and your patients the quality protection they deserve.
1 Surface Barriers
2 Disinfectants or barriers: What is the “right” choice for the treatment room?
Mary Govoni, CDA, RDA, RDH, MBA
what-is-the-right-choice-for-the-treatment-room.html
3 Summary of: The effect of disposable infection control barriers and physical damage on the power output of
light curing units and light curing tips
S. Dunne1
British Dental Journal 210, 358 - 359 (2011) Published online: 22 April 2011 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2011.290
4 Infection Prevention in Dental Radiography
Author: Fiona M. Collins, BDS, MBA, MA, FPFA
Date: 06/12/2012 01:39pm