UNLABELLED Power toothbrushes (PTBs), in combination with abrasive dentifrices, may encourage wear of dental cements at crown margins. PURPOSE This study's purpose was to determine the effect chemical cleaning had on the microbial quality of water emitted from dental unit waterlines (DUWL), 3-way syringes, and power scalers. METHODS Ten randomly selected dental units with attached self-cont...

Legionella spp. are ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and water distribution systems, including dental unit waterlines (DUWLs). The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Legionella in DUWLs and tap water samples using PMA-qPCR and standard culture methods. The total viable counts (TVCs) of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in the samples were also determined. Legionella spp. wer...

The opinion piece by Hoogenkamp et al. raises some important questions regarding patient safety linked to biofouling of dental unit waterlines. They quite rightly consider the risk patients but perhaps there is also a longer term respiratory health, such as occupational asthma, healthcare workers from inhalation heavily biofouled aerosols into their immediate working environment in poorly venti...

Meral ÖZALP**, Ömer Engin BULUT, Atilla Stephan ATAÇ, Melike EKİZOĞLU, Didem KART, Hakan Hamdi ÇELİK, İlkan TATAR 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hacettepe University, 06100, Sıhhiye, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Başkent University, 06490, Bahçelievler, Ankara, Turkey Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Fac...

Introduction. P. aeruginosa is the primary cause for pulmonary destruction and premature death in cystic fibrosis (CF). Therefore, prevention of airway colonization with the pathogen, ubiquitously present in water, is essential. Infection of CF patients with P. aeruginosa after dentist treatment was proven and dental unit waterlines were identified as source, suggesting prophylactic measures. F...

In a country where the prevalence of infectious diseases ranks among the highest in the world, infection control in health care facilities should not be debatable. This unfortunately does not seem to be the case in South African oral health care facilities. This study is a systematic review of available literature on the adherence of South African oral health care professionals to infection con...