Dental Ultrasonic Cleaners: How to Choose.

An ultrasonic cleaner is the tank that knocks debris off instruments before they are sterilized. It is not the sterilizer, and it is not the washer. The sterilizer guide is the cycle after the cassette is clean. The instrument washer guide is the closed machine that washes whole cassettes. A chairside scaler is a different machine again: the ultrasonic scaler guide.

How to choose an ultrasonic cleaner

• The cassette has to fit. A gallon number only helps if you put your largest cassette in that tank, in the basket, with the lid on. A tank that looks big on a bench and will not take the cassette is the wrong tank.
• Use the basket. Instruments that sit on the tank floor sit on the transducer. The basket is what holds them in the solution. A lid keeps the bath cleaner and cuts the noise.
• Sweep is coverage, not a score. Some units sweep the frequency so the bath does not leave a dead spot. A printed kilohertz belongs to that model’s manual. This page does not paste one brand’s number onto the others.
• Heat is a choice. Warm solution helps some soils. Heat also sets blood onto an instrument if you heat a bloody load. Follow the enzymatic solution’s instructions. Hot is not automatically cleaner.
• Change the solution. A timer that says how long the bath has been in the tank is a reminder, not a test that the enzymes still work. Drain it on a schedule, and do not carry a full tank of used solution across the room if the unit has a drain.

How common cleaner lines differ

Treat the table as product differences, not a score. Put a cassette in the tank you are about to buy.

Coltene BioSonic

BioSonic is the covered tank offices meet from Coltene. The UC-125 is listed at 1.25 gallons, a lid, a degas control, and a module that times how long the current bath has been in the tank. That gallon figure is the UC-125, not the whole BioSonic family. A basket still has to match your cassettes. The lid makes the bath quieter. It does not sterilize what is in it.

L&R SweepZone

The SweepZone is the L&R cleaner built into cabinetry, with circuitry the listing says adjusts for load and solution level. Buy it when the sterilization center is being drawn and the tank is part of that counter. It is a poor buy if you need a box you can move. Confirm the tank size on the cabinet drawing before the counter is built. Cleaning in this tank is still followed by the sterilizer.

Crest Powersonic

Powersonic is the Crest line sold on a sweeping frequency and on heat. One listing heats solution to 80°C and describes a sweep a few kilohertz wide. That heat is useful for some debris and the wrong setting for a cassette that just came out of a bloody procedure. Confirm which model you are ordering, and whether that model is large enough for your cassette. A drain on the larger units is part of the reason to pick them. The lifetime warranty on that listing covers the heater. The rest of the unit is two years.

Related guides

• Sterilization equipment
• Instrument washers
• Dental sterilizers
• Ultrasonic scalers

Cleaner questions

Does the ultrasonic cleaner sterilize instruments?

No. It removes debris. The cassette still goes into the sterilizer. A washer can replace the tank for offices that run cassettes all day. Many offices keep a small ultrasonic for the pieces that do not go through the washer.

Is this the scaler the hygienist uses?

No. That handpiece is the ultrasonic scaler. Putting instruments in this tank does not scale a tooth, and the scaler does not clean a cassette.