Quantitative monitoring of microbial contamination to increase awareness in cross infection control during dental practice

• Published in: Malaysian Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Main Author: Sarmin N.I.M.; Mahmud N.H.; Jawahir A.N.; Khan H.B.S.G.; Mohd Rosdy N.M.M.N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2018
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85068379334&partnerID=40&md5=ca41ccc9807d0df20f28971394f83cb4

Occupational hazards linked to dental practice are not a recent problem. In this study, the researchers quantified airborne microbial load in clinical environment during routine dental treatment and evaluated the microbial contamination in dental unit water line system (DUWLs) in Citrine and Zircon clinics. Air was sampled using settled plate method. The difference in the contamination level between the different clinical environments and the rooms where there was no treatment done was statistically significant (P<0.05). At the end of treatment, operative had the highest bacterial contamination (38 ± 8 CFU/m3) maybe due to the active usage of high-speed handpieces and scaler, while oral surgery had the lowest bacterial contamination (14±3 CFU/m3). The results for the microbial contamination of DUWLs in Zircon and Citrine clinic were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The highest bacterial count was from air-water syringe (60 CFU/mL) but was far below the recommendation from the American Dental Association (>200 CFU/mL) and it was of drinking water quality. © 2018 Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. All rights reserved.