Aerosols Contamination in the Dental Practice Following Everyday Procedures: An Observational Study

The purpose of the present observational study was to evaluate the bacterial load in the air following various dental procedures. Air contamination following seven aerosol-generating dental procedures was assessed. The air volume was sampled by a wet cyclone collector for 10 min during 10 sessions of the following procedures: air-polishing, ultrasonic instrumentation, manual instrumentation, rubber cup polishing, cavity preparation with a 1:5 red contra-angle, cavity preparation with turbine and Low Volume Evacuator (LVE), and cavity preparation with turbine and High Volume Evacuator (HVE). Contamination of the sampled solution was determined using ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate) quantification of the viable bacterial count, and compared to baseline measurements. The baseline air contamination was 1.45 (0.85-2.04) CFUs/L of air. The highest increase in air contamination was observed after the use of a turbine with LVE, with an average of 7.38 (95% CI 3.87-10.89) CFUs/L of air (p