What to do after a failed spore test

A positive (failed) spore test means spores survived. CDC's steps: take the sterilizer out of service, review loading, packaging and monitoring records with everyone who uses it, recall and quarantine any implant items, and repeat the spore test right away using the same cycle. If the repeat test passes and the other indicators look right, it can go back into service. If it fails again, the sterilizer stays out of service until repaired and passes spore tests in three cycles in a row, and items back to the last negative test should be recalled and reprocessed when possible.

What you do

1. Tell the infection-control coordinator or dentist immediately.
2. Use a second sterilizer or a loaner meanwhile if available.

Safety and care

1. Common causes are poor cleaning, running the sterilizer incorrectly, improper loading or overloading, and improper or wrong-type packaging.

Related

• Monitoring 3: spore test (weekly and every implant load)
• Sterilization records
• 7. Label and date

Sources: CDC. Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003. MMWR 2003;52(RR-17), CDC. Dental Infection Prevention FAQs: Sterilization Monitoring