Stoma Dental Introduces Its Upgraded Disposable HVE and SE Valves at Greater New York Dental Meeting

St. Louis, MO, December 1, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Stoma Dental is introducing its upgraded DOVE™ brand line of disposable high volume ejector (HVE) and saliva ejector (SE) valves – now compatible with virtually all disposable evacuation tips currently marketed – at the 2014 Greater New York Dental Meeting taking place this week in New York City. 

“We’ve designed these unique HVE and SE valves to respond directly to the needs of the dental community, and to provide an important alternative for optimal infection control and a new standard in patient safety,” says Robert Vanderselt, Managing Partner, Stoma Dental.  “With the recent upgrading of our flagship disposables, our DOVE™ valves also can now be used with about 99% of all disposable evacuation tips on the market.”

"We understand that ease of use and efficiency are crucial when integrating any new device or product into a dental practice," says Vanderselt. "Our DOVE™ valve system offers superior infection control in an intuitively simple form, and we are very pleased with the successful reaction our products are realizing in the marketplace."

Robert Vanderselt , Managing Partner, Stoma Dental

The new DOVE™ HVE and SE valves respond to concerns shared by dental healthcare professionals and patients alike, in that the valves reduce the possibility of reverse flow, or backflow, which can occur when there is greater negative pressure in the patient’s mouth than in the evacuator tubing.  Studies demonstrate that backflow occurs in as many as in 1 in 5 patients who close their lips around the SE tip. When this happens, material from the mouth of a previous patient might remain in the vacuum line of the SE and be aspirated into the mouth of the next patient. 

Given this possibility for backflow and the potential for cross contamination with blood-borne pathogenic viruses and bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that patients not be instructed to close their lips around the SE tip during use. CDC also recommends that vacuum tubing be flushed regularly and that SE and HVE valves be autoclaved in between patients.

However, despite concerns about cross contamination, and specific infection guidance by CDC and metal valve manufacturers, research shows that more than 75 percent of dental practices do not adhere to these more rigorous infection control recommendations and that widespread inconsistency in infection control protocols do exist. 

“We find the recommended sterilization method for both metal HVE and SE valves is very time consuming and the repeated sterilization effects our valve performance,” explains Timothy M. Talbott, DDS, MS, Naples Endodontics, Naples, Florida.  “Also, a few of my staff members work at other offices and the protocol, we learned, varies from office to office.”

Setting a New Standard in Patient Safety

To alleviate such variability when infection control protocols need to be optimized and patient safety is a top priority, the DOVE™ line of disposable valves can be integrated into a private dental practice or institutional dental setting with no deleterious impact on work flow or staff time.   For example, the Veterans Hospital Administration (VHA) instituted more stringent infection control procedures, requiring all clinics to replace valves after each patient.  DOVE™ disposable HVE and SE valves are the only disposable alternative to reprocessing metal valves.

Ease of Use, Efficiency

The DOVE™ HVE and SE valves are simple to operate:  A smooth and easy switch activation by the dentist, assistant, or hygienist operates the open and closing mechanism.  At the end of each procedure, the valves can be pulled off of the vacuum line and discarded. 

The entire process takes a matter of seconds, making their use much more efficient and cost-effective than metal valves, which can take more than 10 minutes (excluding autoclave time), and at times even two staff members, to disassemble and sterilize when following more stringent protocols, such as those recommend by the metal valve manufacturers and CDC. 

Upgrades Expand Options for Use

In addition, the new upgraded DOVE™ HVE and SE valves now accommodate a much wider range of disposable tips, as the interior chamber of each valve narrows to fit large and small tip designs and everything in between.  The new line of tailpieces also allows for easy adaptation of DOVE™ products if the dental unit requires adapters.

“We understand that ease of use and efficiency are crucial when integrating any new device or product into a dental practice,” says Vanderselt.  “Our DOVE™ valve system offers superior infection control in an intuitively simple form, and we are very pleased with the successful reaction our products are realizing in the marketplace.” 

The new, upgraded DOVE™ line is being introduced in conjunction with the 2014 Greater New York Dental Meeting, being held at the Jacob Javits Center, New York City, November 30 – December 3, 2014, and will be on display there at Exhibit Booth 3639.

 About Stoma Dental

Stoma Dental is a St. Louis-based company whose mission is to develop and market easy to use, disposable anti-infection devices for use in the dental operatory. The DOVE™ (Disposable Oral Valve Evacuation) system includes HVE and SE valves, tailcaps and tailpieces, which represent the first products launched by the company. The DOVE™ line of products are produced in the facilities of an ISO 13485 certified facility located in Phoenix, AZ.

References on file:

• RDH Magazine:  www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-16/issue-       1/columns/infection-control/back-flow-in-low-volume-suction-lines-may-lead-to-potential-cross-contamination.html
• Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental a Health-Care Setting, CDC MMWR 2003; 52 (No. RR-17)

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