Originally posted by: IGBT
..I hear the same thing from my hygienist..I guess they autoclave everything..although the mad cow bse problem is so bad in England they have use once only dental tools because bse survives the autoclave.
Not true.
Pressure is high and temperature is around 135C during an autoclave cylce IIRC. It stays that hot for ~3.5 minutes then the pressure is released quickly making the water in there boil really hard and the steam is ejected. No organic material will survive this, not even BSE as proteins will become denatured. BSE can survive temperatures around 100C but it breaks up at 120C after some exposure.
It is very resistant to chemical and irradiation sterilisation, however.
AFAIK, there's still no solid evidence that BSE can be transmitted to humans from animals.
Also, with the drills costing ~£900 -> £1400 a time I doubt that they would or could make them disposable. Most dental equipment is precision engineered and costs a packet, even probes and scalars. Apart from things such as masks, gloves, bibs and the small heads from the aspirators (the blood/saliva sucky things), everything within a dentist is reused.
Edit: As for the OP, all surfaces are steriled after each patient as is the equipment. Masks/gloves etc are all disposed of. The only place you're going to transmit your cold is if you cough on someone in the waiting room.
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