Department for Water-Hygiene and Micro-Ecology, D&R Institute of Hygiene, Microbiology and Environmental Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.
Institute for Applied Hygiene, 8045 Graz, Austria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 17;20(3):1670. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031670.
Due to permanent contact with bodily secretions such as blood and saliva, the dental workplace poses a high risk of infection for patients as well as for personnel. High-speed dental instruments are still considered one of the major hygienic risks, as the high-speed rotation of the attachments leads to the retraction of infectious material from patients' oral cavities. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which dental handpieces are contaminated after use. Spray-water samples were taken from different handpieces used in seven dental offices and protein concentrations were measured photometrically. In the first part of the study, samples were collected from each handpiece before and after the treatment of the patients. Additionally, the changes in protein concentration after consecutive treatments in which the same high-speed dental instrument was used were investigated. The results demonstrated measurable protein concentrations in 91.2% of a total of 398 samples, and 96.4% of the spray-water samples taken after treatment showed a discrepancy from the initial measured protein concentration. In 68.4% an increase in protein concentration was observed, whereas in 27.9% a decrease was measured. In conclusion, the internal contamination of high-speed dental instruments frequently occurs in daily usage and consequently may lead to the transmission of infectious agents by flushing the contaminated water out of the spray water tubes. Moreover, it must be pointed out that internal cleansing of handpieces is insufficient and that a final mechanical disinfection is indispensable.
由于与血液和唾液等人体分泌物的持续接触，牙科工作场所对患者和医务人员都存在很高的感染风险。高速牙科仪器仍然被认为是主要的卫生风险之一，因为附件的高速旋转会将感染物质从患者的口腔中吸入。本研究旨在调查使用后牙科机头的污染程度。从七个牙科诊所使用的不同机头中采集喷雾水样，并通过光度法测量蛋白质浓度。在研究的第一部分，从每个机头在治疗患者前后采集样本，并研究了在连续使用相同高速牙科仪器的情况下，蛋白质浓度的变化。结果表明，在总共 398 个样本中，有 91.2%可测量到蛋白质浓度，且 96.4%治疗后采集的喷雾水样与初始测量的蛋白质浓度存在差异。其中，68.4%观察到蛋白质浓度增加，而 27.9%则测量到浓度降低。因此，在日常使用中，高速牙科仪器的内部经常会受到污染，从而可能导致通过将污染的水从喷雾水管中冲洗出来而传播感染物。此外，必须指出的是，机头的内部清洗是不够的，最终的机械消毒是必不可少的。
