On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 10:52:20 -0600, clifto wrote:

-XC- wrote:
I've found the "asking the dentist for the old worn out tools etc" is a
myth. I have asked and the official answer was due to the tools being used
in blood, bone and possibly disease they are discarded when worn, not given
away. Makes good sense to me! New industrial dental picks and bits are cheap
and available all over the place.

My dentist (and my previous dentist) autoclave them and give them out
to an eager waiting list of people.

Yes, this is what I have seen.

If there were such a risk of disease transmission, then they could
never use the tools on a second patient.

Autoclaving professionally done removes the risk of disease
transmission. It is just a matter of doing it before giving them away.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom