Extra-oral suction
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Oral health care workers (OHCW) are exposed to pathogenic microorganisms during
dental aerosol-generating procedures. Technologies aimed at the reduction of aerosol, droplets
and splatter are essential. This in vivo study assessed aerosol, droplet and splatter contamination
in a simulated clinical scenario. The coolant of the high-speed air turbine was colored with red
concentrate. The red aerosol, droplets and splatter contamination on the wrists of the OHCW and
chests of the OHCW/volunteer protective gowns, were assessed and quantified in cm2
. The efficacy
of various evacuation strategies was assessed: low-volume saliva ejector (LV) alone, high-volume
evacuator (HV) plus LV and an extra-oral dental aerosol suction device (DASD) plus LV. The Kruskal–
Wallis rank-sum test for multiple independent samples with a post-hoc test was used. No significant
difference between the LV alone compared to the HV plus LV was demonstrated (p = 0.372059). The
DASD combined with LV resulted in a 62% reduction of contamination of the OHCW. The HV plus
LV reduced contamination by 53% compared to LV alone (p = 0.019945). The DASD demonstrated a
50% reduction in the contamination of the OHCWs wrists and a 30% reduction in chest contamination
compared to HV plus LV. The DASD in conjunction with LV was more effective in reducing aerosol,
droplets and splatter than HV plus LV.
Description
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, Splatter, Dental aerosol-generating procedures
Citation
Noordien, N. et al. (2023). In vivo study of aerosol, droplets and splatter reduction in dentistry. Viruses, 15(8), 1669. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15081669