Why Clean Your Dental Evacuation Lines?
Introduction From time to time safe evacuation and disposal of bio-wastes has been discussed amongst the regulators and the industry following rare but unavoidable incidents associated with dental surgeries.
However, maintenance of mechanical efficiency of the installed evacuation system, has yet to be sufficiently addressed to foster a widely accepted best management practice.
Dental vacuum systems are categorized as Level 3 systems under the National Fire Protection Association Code 99 (NFPA 99).
The system consist of two primary components: the pump and the piping, which use vacuum to create a suction airflow.
The systems are classified as either "wet" or "dry," as pertaining to the design of the pumps, while the attached piping system can be either wet or dry for either type of pump.
By and large dental vacuum systems utilize wet piping which refers to pipes through which water, evacuated fluids and solids are conveyed from a treatment room for onward disposal through a system of filters, holding tanks and drains.
Operations Dental vacuum systems require a relatively low vacuum level of around 6-8 inches mercury, to produces an airflow of approximately 7 cubic feet per minute at each chair side.
A relatively high volume air flow is required at the inlet.
Thus the efficiency of a dental vacuum system is based on two properties: vacuum and airflow.
Vacuum provides the energy to allow airflow, which proportionately captures waste introduced into the system for conveyance to designed exit points.
For a particular size orifice at the tip of the suction piping, the airflow in the system is a function of the vacuum level within the piping, which results from the vacuum generated at the vacuum pump.
For any system, the vacuum created at the pump is proportional to the airflow through the tip.
For most dental evacuation systems, a vacuum level of 6 to 8 inches of mercury at the pump is sufficient to produce the 7 cubic feet per minute of airflow at the suction tip assuming a properly designed and maintained piping system.
This implies that the airflow through a given size orifice/pipe would increase if the vacuum level at the pump were increased and vice versa.
This relationship assumes that the size of the opening at the tip and the inner diameter of the piping remains the same during operations.
However, in a functioning system, even if the orifice at the tip remains constant through replacement of the mouthpiece for each successive patient, the inner diameter of the piping system decreases over time due to particle deposition and accumulation.
This reduction in pipe size results in higher pressure within the piping system but a lower flow rate; vacuum and pressure are inversely related.
The most effective evacuation of dental waste occurs when there is a proper balance between vacuum pressure and airflow.
Enough vacuum is necessary to remove liquid and solid matter, which in turn requires enough airflow to capture the waste materials.
Incomplete transport of fluids results in buildup of fluids in the vacuum lines and a nonfunctional or a poorly functional system.
However, maintenance of mechanical efficiency of the installed evacuation system, has yet to be sufficiently addressed to foster a widely accepted best management practice.
Dental vacuum systems are categorized as Level 3 systems under the National Fire Protection Association Code 99 (NFPA 99).
The system consist of two primary components: the pump and the piping, which use vacuum to create a suction airflow.
The systems are classified as either "wet" or "dry," as pertaining to the design of the pumps, while the attached piping system can be either wet or dry for either type of pump.
By and large dental vacuum systems utilize wet piping which refers to pipes through which water, evacuated fluids and solids are conveyed from a treatment room for onward disposal through a system of filters, holding tanks and drains.
Operations Dental vacuum systems require a relatively low vacuum level of around 6-8 inches mercury, to produces an airflow of approximately 7 cubic feet per minute at each chair side.
A relatively high volume air flow is required at the inlet.
Thus the efficiency of a dental vacuum system is based on two properties: vacuum and airflow.
Vacuum provides the energy to allow airflow, which proportionately captures waste introduced into the system for conveyance to designed exit points.
For a particular size orifice at the tip of the suction piping, the airflow in the system is a function of the vacuum level within the piping, which results from the vacuum generated at the vacuum pump.
For any system, the vacuum created at the pump is proportional to the airflow through the tip.
For most dental evacuation systems, a vacuum level of 6 to 8 inches of mercury at the pump is sufficient to produce the 7 cubic feet per minute of airflow at the suction tip assuming a properly designed and maintained piping system.
This implies that the airflow through a given size orifice/pipe would increase if the vacuum level at the pump were increased and vice versa.
This relationship assumes that the size of the opening at the tip and the inner diameter of the piping remains the same during operations.
However, in a functioning system, even if the orifice at the tip remains constant through replacement of the mouthpiece for each successive patient, the inner diameter of the piping system decreases over time due to particle deposition and accumulation.
This reduction in pipe size results in higher pressure within the piping system but a lower flow rate; vacuum and pressure are inversely related.
The most effective evacuation of dental waste occurs when there is a proper balance between vacuum pressure and airflow.
Enough vacuum is necessary to remove liquid and solid matter, which in turn requires enough airflow to capture the waste materials.
Incomplete transport of fluids results in buildup of fluids in the vacuum lines and a nonfunctional or a poorly functional system.
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