Dental health care providers and patients are exposed during ongoing work to contamination by the water used in the dental units, due to accidental swallowing or aspiration of the sprays generated by the high-speed handpiece and the threeway syringe. This study evaluated the quality of water in dental units in the public dental care system of Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil, by conducting analyses of contamination by total coliforms, E.Coli, heterotrophic bacteria and filamentous fungi. We collected 200 mL of water at 5 sites in 6 dental offices of the Department of Health located in different parts of the city. A total 212 isolates and 16 genera of filamentous fungi were identified in the water collected from the dental units. Total coliforms indicated that the water used in dental units was not appropriate for human consumption. The high levels of contamination found in this study showed that water was a potential source of cross-infection.
No clinical trial protocols linked to this paper
Clinical trials are automatically linked when NCT numbers are found in the paper's title or abstract.PICO Elements
No PICO elements extracted yet. Click "Extract PICO" to analyze this paper.
Paper Details
MeSH Terms
Associated Data
No associated datasets or code repositories found for this paper.
Related Papers
Related paper suggestions will be available in future updates.