Study of Microbial Contaminationin Dental Unit Water Line: A Clinical Implication

Aziz, Abdul; Hasnan, Siti Najwabinti; Jamil, Syifakmawaddah Abdul; Mohamad, A. Hamid; Abdullah, Syatirah Najmi; Alias, Aliza

doi:10.9790/0853-1602046366

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…[25] Therefore, control of infection is important for dental care. [26] Maintaining dental water quality is one of the methods for infection control. Therefore, the implementation of a dental water quality improvement program will have an implication on patients' safety, such as avoiding water borne infection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A program to improve the quality of dental unit water in a medical center

et al. 2021

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The water quality of dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) is associated with patient safety. No program for DUWL water quality improvement has been formulated since the time they were established 20 years ago. This study provides an improvement program for the quality of dental unit water. The improvement program was implemented step by step: discharge of DUWLs for 5 minutes in the morning before clinical service to flush out the water left in the pipeline overnight; weekly disinfection of the handpiece connector with 75% alcohol and replacement of the old connector when the water quality of the same dental chair unit (DCU) was continuously found to be unqualified; monthly disinfection of the water supply system and pipeline; and establishment of DCU maintenance work standards and staff education and training. From 2016 to 2018, the water quality of 18 DCUs was tested by microorganism culture. The colonies >200 colony forming unit were categorized as unqualified. This program was divided into a pre-test phase, Phase 1, a maintenance phase, and Phase 2. A Chi-square test was used to calculate the difference of unqualified water quality numbers between each phase of the improvement program. In the pre-test phase, the water quality rate (high quality number/high-quality number + low-quality number) was 58.3%. In Phase 1, the quality rate before and after the intervention was 64.8% (35/54) and 92.2% (83/90) (P < .001), respectively. After Phase 1, the quality rate reached 100%. However, the quality rate dropped to 75% during the maintenance phase. Then, we proceeded into Phase 2 of the improvement program by further monthly disinfection to DUWLs. In Phase 2, the quality rate was 62/73 (84.9%) and improved to 142/144 (98.6%) after the intervention (P < .001). The quality rate reached 100% once again and was maintained at 100% thereafter. In conclusion, the 4 steps of the improvement program improved the water quality of the DUWL, which is important for patient safety.Abbreviations: ADA = American Dental Association, CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CFU = colony-forming unit, DCU = dental chair unit, DUWLs = dental unit waterlines, RO water = reverse osmosis water.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Infectious diseases, incidents, and radiation tend to be exposed during the treatment [25] . Therefore, control of infection is important for dental care [26] . Maintaining dental water quality is one of the methods for infection control.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%