Hygoclave to the rescue!

The decision to purchase a new steriliser took on an extra sense of urgency when one practice's old steriliser completely broke down in Melbourne recently.

Being unable to see any patients because his steriliser was down, Dr Martin Levy was genuinely excited when the team from A-dec and Alldent arrived with a brand new Dürr Dental Hygoclave 40 ready for installation.

A-dec Victorian Territory Manager Scott Williams said Dr Levy was right in there with the team of technicians watching everything and working his way through the manuals provided - "like a kid with a new toy" kind of excitement.

The Alldent techs responsible for the installation and validation (some who had not yet trained on this model at that time) had the machine up and running in no time at all, demonstrating how intuitive the Hygoclave and attached barcode printer is to operate.

Scott, who was conducting the handover, said the machines ship without the door seal installed, so it is necessary to first install the seal and then lock the door to help seat the seal. Once the door was closed, then opened, the seal was checked and then the door closed again and the Hygoclave passed its vacuum test perfectly.

During the handover training, Scott demonstrated how to transfer cycle data files via the USB. Although the Hygoclave is sold widely in Europe, it has only recently been released in Australia thanks to a partnership with Dürr Dental following extensive pre-release trials in local dental practices.

The Hygoclave 40 at Dr Levy's practice is connected to a Dürr Hygodem demineraliser to allow automated water filling of the steriliser. As a standard feature, Hygoclave's inbuilt water quality tester monitors water quality and issues an alert if it drops below the required standard.

Scott said that incredibly, Dr Levy himself will be the primary user. Dr Levy operates his practice quite uniquely, being the dentist, practice manager and the primary reprocessing manager which makes him a good candidate for offering feedback!

Congratulations to Dr Levy on his purchase and to Scott and the Alldent team for a job well done.