In vivo study of aerosol droplets and splatter reduction in dentistry
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Oral healthcare 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 droplets 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 were 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 posthoc 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. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Description
Keywords
Aerosol, Contamination, Dentistry, Extra-oral suction, High-volume evacuation, Low-volume saliva ejector, SARS-CoV-2, Splatter reduction, Oral healthcare workers, OHCW, Pathonogenic microorganisms, Dental aerosol suction device, DASD
Citation
Noordien, N., Mulder van Staden, S. and Mulder, R. (2021). In Vivo study of aerosol droplets and splatter reduction in dentistry. Viruses. 13. 10.3390/v13101928