Sterisil.

Sterisil products in the pages reviewed are about dental unit waterlines, not about sterilizing instruments. FASTCheck15 is the 15-minute strip. The Straw is the in-bottle treatment. Both are described on Sterisil and Solmetex pages that share the Northborough, Massachusetts address, 30 Bearfoot Road, and the phones 800-216-5505 and 877-207-1551. Hours on the promotions page are 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

The test page says the strip is aimed at microbials above 500 CFU per milliliter, with a one-line pass and a two-line fail. That threshold is the product's design point. It does not replace a lab culture if your state or your policy requires one. A 2026 newsletter points readers at written standard operating procedures and at state rules, using Georgia as an example of a waterline regulation. Your state may differ. Read the rule that applies to your license.

The Straw is described as silver-ion technology, installed in any dental bottle, replaced yearly in the offer copy. Independent verification of the '20 times iodine' line was not part of this profile. If that comparison matters, ask Solmetex for the study. The practical facts you can use now are the install location, the replacement interval the company states, and the test you run after treatment.

Waterline chemistry is not a delivery-unit purchase. The delivery system is the equipment. Sterisil is what you put in the bottle and how you test the lines. A new chair does not arrive with documented clean waterlines.

Sterisil suits any practice with dental unit waterlines that must show a passing test, which is most operatories that use a bottle or city water through the handpiece. Hygienists and assistants usually run the test. The delivery system guide is the equipment. This brand is the protocol.

A lab without a patient chair may not need it. A surgical room with a separate irrigation source should not assume a bottle straw treats a sterile saline bag.

Multi-site groups can write one SOP and still must test each chair. The newsletter's point about written procedures is the management task.

Other waterline options include tablets, continuous cartridges, and lab cultures. FASTCheck15 is an in-office strip with a 15-minute read, contrasted by Sterisil with paddle tests that take longer. Use the comparison that matches your regulation. A faster test is not automatically the test your board names.

The Straw is a silver-ion bottle insert. Iodine straws are the comparison Sterisil makes. They install differently and last different intervals. Do not stack two treatments unless both instructions allow it.

Sterilizers do not clean waterlines. A passing spore test on an autoclave says nothing about the water in the air-water syringe.

Buy the test and the treatment as a pair if you will remediate in house. A failed FASTCheck15 without a shock protocol leaves you closed or boiling water. Ask what Sterisil recommends after a fail, and whether that product is in the same order.

Replacement of the Straw is described as once a year in the promotion copy. Put it on a calendar. Document each chair's test. The 500 CFU line is the strip's cutoff, not a suggestion to aim just under it.

Support is Solmetex in Northborough. Promotions say some offers exclude special market accounts and apply to U.S. distributors. Read the current offer. Clinical product choice should not depend on a rebate.