Lesson 4.1 · 7 min

Reprocessing A to D and the 1 May 2028 deadline

Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz

At a glance

By the treatment. How an instrument is reprocessed depends on what it was used for: four levels, A to D.
Clean and dirty. Reprocessing has a clean zone and a dirty zone, separated in space or in time, and a named person in charge.
Class B. Sterilising is done in a class B steam steriliser, with pressure and temperature printed or stored.
1 May 2028. By 1 May 2028 at the latest, the requirements for cleaning, disinfection and the steriliser must be met.
Then a washer-disinfector too. For oral surgery, level D, cleaning and disinfection must be done by machine, in a washer-disinfector. A practice that only reprocesses levels A to C can manage without one.

In detail

The four levels

Annex 2 of the hygiene regulation orders reprocessing by the treatment an instrument was used for (ÖZÄK-HygV 2025, Annex 2):

Level	Contact with	Examples	Reprocessing
A	intact skin and mucosa	examining the mouth	cleaning and disinfection, by machine or by hand with listed products; visual check; dust-free storage
B	mucosa, enamel, dentine	fillings, preparation, crowns, scaling, prosthetics	cleaning; disinfection by machine, or instead in the steriliser (class B autoclave); visual check; dust-free storage
C	pulp; penetrating the mucosa	root canal treatment, extraction, periodontal surgery	cleaning and disinfection by machine or a validated manual method; visual check; sterilised in sterile packaging; dust-free storage for at most 6 months
D	oral surgery	implants, sinus lift, flap surgery	cleaning and disinfection by machine; visual check; sterile-packed in a class B steriliser; dust-free storage for at most 6 months

What the regulation requires

Separate zones for clean and dirty, separated in space or in time; in space only where rooms are big enough § 20(2) HygV.
A dentist or dental assistant is named as the person responsible for reprocessing § 20(3) HygV.
Cleaning and disinfection are done "by hand or thermally by machine in washer-disinfectors (EN 15883), depending on the intended use" § 20(4) HygV.
Sterilising is done in a steam steriliser to ÖN EN 285 or EN ISO 13060, at least 3 minutes at 134 °C or 15 minutes at 121 °C, documented by printing or storing the actual pressure and temperature; with pre-vacuum for hollow instruments; using a class B steriliser § 20(5) HygV.
Manual methods follow documented standard operating procedures, with products tested for effectiveness § 20(6) HygV.
Packaging uses a heat sealer or sterile containers; sterile goods are stored dry, dust-free and dated § 21 HygV.
External validation is only needed when the authority orders it during an inspection under § 36(2) ZÄG or there is a quality deficiency under § 11 QSV, unless the EU Medical Devices Regulation requires otherwise § 22 HygV.

The deadline

The requirements of § 20(4) and (5) must be met by 1 May 2028 at the latest § 24(3) HygV; everything else in §§ 20 to 22 has applied since 1 May 2025 § 24(1) HygV. The chamber describes this as a three-year transition for buying a class B steriliser in practices that already existed on 1 May 2025 (Dental Chamber, hygiene).

Does every practice need a washer-disinfector? No. § 20(4) allows manual or machine methods, depending on the intended use. A washer-disinfector is needed by anyone reprocessing level D instruments; for level B, the class B autoclave can replace machine disinfection, and for level C a validated manual method is enough (Annex 2). A class B steriliser, on the other hand, is needed by every practice that sterilises.

Checklist

We have assigned every treatment to level A, B, C or D.
A person is named, in writing, as responsible for reprocessing.
Clean and dirty are separated and labelled.
Our steriliser is class B and stores or prints pressure and temperature, by 1 May 2028 at the latest.
If we do oral surgery: we clean and disinfect by machine.

Quiz

What must be in place by 1 May 2028 at the latest under § 24(3) HygV?

The requirements for cleaning and disinfection and for the steriliser (§ 20(4) and (5))
An annual external validation
A separate sterilisation room
A washer-disinfector in every practice

Show the answer

The answer is A: The requirements for cleaning and disinfection and for the steriliser (§ 20(4) and (5)). The requirements of § 20(4) and (5) must be met by 1 May 2028 at the latest (§ 24(3) ÖZÄK-HygV 2025). Paragraph 4 allows manual or machine cleaning depending on the intended use; a washer-disinfector isn't required in every practice.

Sources

This lesson's statements rest on:

Not legal advice. What counts is the acts and regulations in the Federal Legal Information System and the Austrian Dental Chamber's regulations (read on 7 October 2026). The health minister's regulation with the criteria from 2028 (§ 9b(2) GQG) had not been issued on that day. Not covered are insurer contracts, billing, data protection in detail and the employer's duties under the Worker Protection Act in detail; there is a separate course on those at aschg.globalapps.top. Not an offer of the Austrian Dental Chamber, a regional dental chamber, the BIQG or the Chamber of Commerce.