Let's look at the opening at the top of the typical sharps container found in the dental office. We notice that there are multiple holes on the circumference. Most of the dental office does not even take note of these, however they are an important part of the safety solutions for the dental office.The four holes that are similar are for the securing of the cover for the sharps container when it is deemed to be full. This is in most cases when the container is 2/3 to 3/4 full so as not to make it difficult to place something in the sharps container without undue force.
The two holes that we see on the extreme right and left of the picture are for the purpose of safely removing the needle from the syringe. This is done by inserting the needle into the opening and sliding it so as to engage the ribs on the hub of the needle. Next the needle can be disengaged by rotating the hub of the syringe and the needle will fall directly into the sharps container.
This method can be used with or without the needle being capped. We have demonstrated that the dental office has implemented "safer medical/dental devices" with the proper usage of pre-existing materials.
For compliance advice for the dental office please contact Dynamic Dental Safety at (888) 669-8846 ext. 701
