Evaluation of effectiveness of microwave irradiation for disinfection of silicone elastomeric impression material.

Use of domestic microwave oven has been suggested as a method of disinfecting a number of dental materials used in dental practice. This study was done to analyse the effect of microwave irradiation on vinyl polysiloxane putty impression material (3M ESPE, Express™ STD) contaminated with test organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans. 180 square shaped specimens of addition silicon putty material were prepared and divided into 3 groups for three test organisms. The 3 groups were subdivided into 4 subgroups (n = 15) for different exposure parameters (control group 5, 6 and 7 min exposure at 650 W. The specimens were contaminated using standard inoculums of test organism and then were irradiated using domestic microwaves. Broth cultures of the control and test group specimens were plated on selective media culture plates. Colonies formed were counted. Data analyses included Kruskal-Walli's ANOVA and Mann-Whitney's tests. Nil values shows complete elimination of C. albicans and P. aeruginosa after 5, 6 and 7 min exposure. Staphylococcus aureus showed colonies with the mean value of 7.6 × 10(3) ± 2.3 × 10(3), 4.6 × 10(3) ± 2.6 × 10(3) after 5 and 6 min respectively and nil values after 7 min exposure. 5 min exposure caused complete elimination of C. albicans and P. aeruginosa strains, while 7 min exposure eliminated S. aureus completely.