Perfectly maintained in just 10 seconds

Mr Lechner, could you give us a brief history of W&H’s activities in the field of hygiene and maintenance:

Lechner: W&H launched the first automatic handpiece maintenance device on the market back in 1992: the Assistina 301plus . Whereas other manufacturers only offered servicing with an oil spray can, the new W&H product was the first to allow fully automated oil dosing and complete cleaning of spray channels.

As the years went by, customers began to focus more and more on cleaning alongside the oil service. In response, W&H introduced the two cleaning and maintenance devices Assistina 3x2 and Assistina 3x3 in 2013. Whilst the Assistina 3x2 allowed validated cleaning of the interior of the spray channels and the gearing components as well as supporting the lubrication, the Assistina 3x3 also ensured validated cleaning of the exterior. As such, W&H was able to set a new benchmark in the field of hygiene and maintenance once again.

In the reprocessing of dental handpieces, the lubrication always represents a critical bottleneck before the instrument set can be packaged and sterilized. The task of the new Assistina TWIN is now to optimise this step considerably. Thanks to an innovative use concept, users can now perform the handpiece maintenance process quickly, efficiently and without any downtime at all.

Our development engineers managed to design a new method for introducing oil into dental handpieces, which makes it possible to optimise considerably both the cycle duration and the quantity of oil and cleaning solution required. Thanks to these technical innovations, the Assistina TWIN is now one of the most cost-effective solutions available on the market in terms of the reprocessing costs per dental handpiece.

What significance does the new service device take on, in the hygiene cycle of dental practices?

Lechner: A subsequent handpiece maintenance is absolutely essential when using washers and disinfectors such as the Miele thermo washer disinfector. With the Assistina TWIN this can be performed considerably more cost-effectively, safely and quickly than with comparable automated solutions and conventional oil spray cans. The Assistina TWIN allows the practice team to transfer the handpieces to the subsequent packaging and sterilization stages in next to no time. The aim is to make handpieces available for subsequent treatments in the practice as soon as possible.

The W&H device is equipped with a HEPA filter (high efficiency particulate air filter), which filters bacteria, viruses, dusts, aerosols, smoke particles, etc., out of the air. Any aerosol mists developing during the maintenance process are captured by fans and filtered out. This ensures that only clean air emerges from the device. Yet another highlight of the Assistina TWIN is the simple operation, which requires the pressing of just one button. Time-intensive device training sessions are thus no longer necessary. All the consumables are offered in the Assistina TWIN Care Set. The cartridges (cleaner and oil) and the HEPA filter can be replaced very easily without the need for any tools at all.

As the Assistina TWIN can also cope with very high instrument volumes, the W&H device is suitable for both dentists with their own practices, who require the handpiece to be ready for use in a very short period of time, as well as for large practices and clinics.