Inspired by the needs of practices, Dentsply Sirona’s successful infection control system DAC Universal celebrates a new milestone with more than 50,000 sold devices. In times of COVID-19, dental practitioners have found thorough infection prevention concepts to be more vital than ever.
Seamless, excellent infection control in dental practices and clinics helps to give patients and staff confidence in safety. Dentsply Sirona’s DAC Universal has proven itself a continuous success in the hygiene concept of practices worldwide: 50,000 devices have been sold to date. A success story that started in the year 2000 and has its base in the close cooperation with dental experts to ensure a technological evolution according to practices’ needs.
The DAC Universal product portfolio offers cost-effective and fully automatic reprocessing and optional lubrication in only approximately 15 or 211 minutes, depending on the DAC Universal model and the programme.
The fully automatic process allows for validation certainty. Thanks to the automatic process, the parameters during the different steps are always the same and therefore the process can be validated. That ensures that the instrument is reprocessed properly, every time when it is reprocessed in DAC Universal (validation is regulated within DIN EN ISO 17665-1:2006-11).
All reprocessing steps are standardised and fully automated at the touch of a button. A lab study from the independent accredited test lab “HygCen Germany,” conducted by Dr med univ Sebastian Werner and commissioned by Dentsply Sirona, confirmed on 30 June 2020 the full virucidal activity of the DAC Universal family, including activity against all enveloped and non-enveloped viruses2. Enveloped viruses include SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus, HI virus and influenza.
Cord Stähler, chief technology officer of Dentsply Sirona, said: “The success story of DAC Universal underlines our commitment to leading the way in excellent infection control and prevention. The DAC Universal stands as an example for product evolution according to the requirements of dentists and dental professionals.”
Manuela Wimmer, dental assistant from Passau, Germany, has been a DAC Universal user for about 20 years, and agreed: “DAC Universal is a good example of a product that was evolved continuously according to the need of everyday practice routines. Starting with processes in terms of handling and documentation up to the optimisation of the hygiene workflow. The solution became smarter, more digital and more intuitive – and more fun to use.”
To ensure very high maximum reliability and add value for the customer, Dentsply Sirona established a thorough testing regime for the DAC Universal portfolio. In endurance testing, 30 units could complete at least 10,000 cycles without maintenance. Six additionally tested units could even complete 30,000 cycles without maintenance — an equivalent of 3,000 working days with an average of ten cycles per day3.
Before the sales launch, a successful customer trial series with 60 DAC Universal devices in ten countries also underlined the high customer satisfaction regarding product performance and quality.
Facts and figures about the DAC Universal product portfolio
In 2000, the launch of the first DAC Universal changed reprocessing in dental clinics. Five years later, the first updated edition of DAC Universal entered the market, followed by a new model again in 2009. By 2017, 40,000 DAC Universal units had been installed worldwide. Launched in September 2020, the DAC Universal S completes the DAC Universal product portfolio with a sterilisation function especially for markets that require sterilization instead of a disinfection of unwrapped medical devices. DAC Universal S is available in select countries.
1DAC Universal D: 15 minutes; DAC Universal S: 21 minutes
2A summary of the study can be made available by Dentsply Sirona upon request
3Dentsply Sirona recommends to run a regular maintenance every two years or 3000 cycles, depending on what is coming first
