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REALITY'S CHOICE

4.3

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Manufacturer

TherOzone

Web Site

http://www.therozone.com/

Raves & Rants

+ Very easy to use
+ Many potential uses for ozonated water

– Very expensive
– Hard to see fill line through opaque bottle

Prices

$7,495.00

Warranty

1 year

Description

Device that produces ozonated water for purging and disinfecting water lines in your dental unit as well as using it as a hard surface disinfectant and to soak instruments prior to autoclaving. There is also evidence and/or possibilities that its antimicrobial effect can be used to irrigate and disinfect cavity preps, root canals and periodontal pockets, especially the latter two when using ultrasonics. One research group used it to ozonate sodium hypochlorite, which dissolved tissue remnants faster and allowed a lower concentration to be used, thus reducing possible toxicity. In addition, it can be a pretreatment rinse for patients to reduce their oral bacteria count.

The unit looks like a large, white coffee maker, with a domed top and a recess in front for the bottle that acts as the reservoir for the water. At the top of this recess is the gray plastic female connector for the water bottle. Extending down from this connection is a flexible rubber tube that ends in a rigid sintered ceramic diffuser section perforated with 5 micron-sized holes through which the ozone gas is pumped into the water.

The soft touch control panel is located on the bottom half of the right side of the front section. The top of this control panel has a green LED power indicator that glows when the unit is on. Immediately below is the Start button/LED. Below that comes the Ready light and finally the Reset button/LED.

The bottle in which the ozonated water is produced looks almost identical to those which are used to hold the onboard water for your dental unit. However, just like your onboard water bottles, the opacity of the plastic makes it difficult to see the water level inside unless you hold it up to a bright light such as a dental unit light. On the other hand, this plastic has proven to be durable and resists degradation by ozone.

The threads on the bottle should fit most dental units with the glaring exception of A-dec. If you do have an A-dec unit, you’ll need to pour the ozonated water into an A-dec water bottle before you can purge your unit.

The large rear section of the unit holds the ozone generating compressor. A blue plastic accent strip covers the seam between the two sections and adds a little pizzazz to the otherwise utilitarian design.

The back of the unit at the top has the vent holes for the two internal cooling fans, while the bottom section has the simple toggle power button, the connection for the AC plug, and the time clock, which registers the actual ozone generating time. Since the compressor is rated at 5,000 hours or 30,000 cycles, it seems obvious that this piece of equipment should be quite durable.

Half of the evaluators considered the design of the unit to be acceptable, while the other half really liked the design.

Weight

12.1lbs/5.5kg

Dimensions

Use

When you turn the unit on, the power LED will glow green, while the reset LED will be red. Fill up the water bottle with distilled water to the maximum fill line. While not essential, a funnel makes filling this bottle easier and keeps drips to a minimum. Even though the written directions give you the option of using water between 5-20°C or 40-68°F, the manufacturer’s website instructs you to use refrigerated water. Presumably ozone is better dissolved in cold rather than room temperature water. In addition, tap water can be used instead of distilled water, but the ozone dose will be lower.

After filling the bottle to the maximum fill line, screw on the gray plastic male connector, thread the rubber tube through the hole in the connector, and push it up into the female connector attached to the unit. These two connectors just snap together easily and quickly. At this point, the bottle filled with distilled water is just hanging in the unit without any support underneath. Once the bottle is connected, the red reset light goes off. Note that the unit will not start generating ozone if the bottle is not connected properly. This is a safety mechanism built into it.

Then you push the start button and the ozone generation begins. The start LED turns amber and the sound from the compressor is unmistakable but not distracting or annoying. During the time the ozone is being generated, there are occasional and brief puff-like sounds, almost like water hitting a hot pan on the stove.

According to the written directions, it will take about 10 minutes for the ozone to be generated, while the website states 5.25 minutes, which is exactly the time we recorded. When it is finished, the ready LED glows blue, but the two internal cooling fans stay on for an additional two minutes. All the evaluators felt the machine was easy to use and the generation time was acceptable.

To remove the bottle, retract the sleeve around the female connector while holding the bottle with your other hand. The bottle disengages very easily and, after removing the rubber tubing, the ozonated water is ready to use. The unit itself generates ozone as a closed system, which means there is no ozone gas released while it’s being generated assuming the bottle is connected properly. The unit also converts any unused ozone back into oxygen, which is another safety feature.

However, some individuals may notice the ozone odor, which is coming out of the water similar to the fizz when you first open a bottle of soda, as soon as the bottle is removed from the machine. None of the evaluators were bothered by this odor, although several staff members in one office found it offensive. For this reason, you would probably not want to keep the unit in a treatment room.

According to the manufacturer, the ozonated water has a half life of about 30 minutes. This means you should use it as quickly as possible. If you are going to use the ozonated water to wipe down your treatment room, moistening unbleached gauze or towels would be best, since the chlorine residue in bleached towels could affect its potency.

Note: The manufacturer sells a third party kit for $65.00 to test whether the ozonated water really was generated. While the kit itself reminds you of a high school chemistry set, it is reasonably easy to use and did confirm that the water that was generated contained ozone.

Effect on Bond Strength

Since ozonated water has been proposed as a cavity disinfectant, we tested its effect on bond strength using total-etch (OptiBond Solo Plus) and self-etch (Bond Force) adhesives. The results showed that there is no effect on bond strength.

Maintenance

There is no routine maintenance required. After 40-45 hours of use, the plastic inside the female coupler (the one attached to the unit) presumably degrades to the point of needing to be replaced.

Directions

Our unit came with a plastic-laminated, foldout that is easy to follow and has numerous illustrations. But as noted previously, some important information such as the need to refrigerate the distilled water is not emphasized. The best and more updated directions are on the manufacturer’s website.

Overall Rating

4.3