Choudhary, S., Bach, T., Wallace, M. et al. (9 more authors) (2022) Assessment of infectious diseases risks from dental aerosols in real world settings. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 9 (11). ofac617. ISSN 2328-8957
Abstract
Background
Infectious diseases physicians are leaders in assessing the health risks in a variety of community settings. An understudied area with substantial controversy is the safety of dental aerosols. Previous studies have used in vitro experimental designs and/or indirect measures to evaluate bacteria and viruses from dental surfaces. However, these findings may overestimate the occupational risks of dental aerosols. The purpose of this study was to directly measure dental aerosol composition to assess the health risks for dental healthcare personnel and patients.
Methods
We used a variety of aerosol instruments to capture and measure the bacterial, viral, and inorganic composition of aerosols during a variety of common dental procedures and in a variety of dental office layouts. Equipment was placed in close proximity to dentists during each procedure to best approximate the health risk hazards from the perspective of the DHCP. Devices used to capture aerosols were set at physiologic respiration rates. Oral suction devices were per the discretion of the dentist.
Results
We detected very few bacteria and no viruses in dental aerosols – regardless of office layout. The bacteria identified were most consistent with either environmental or oral microbiota, suggesting a low risk of transmission of viable pathogens from patients to DHCPs. When analyzing restorative procedures involving amalgam removal, we detected inorganic elements consistent with amalgam fillings.
Conclusions
Aerosols generating from dental procedures pose a low health risk for bacterial and likely viral pathogens when common aerosol mitigation interventions, such as suction devices, are employed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Clinical Dentistry (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA P21-02731 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Nov 2022 18:25 |
Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2022 13:56 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/ofid/ofac617 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193021 |