Air contamination during use of air abrasion instrumentation

The aim of this study was to compare air contamination at different sites produced by air abrasion and a high speed hand piece following dental procedures. Particle samples were collected on mixed cellulose ester filters (Millipore, Inc.) and counted under the light microscope. Data were analyzed by paired sample "t" test. The results showed significantly more total mean number of particles produced by air abrasion as compared with a high speed hand piece. Intra-orally, the mean number of particles found on low volume suction was significantly more in air abrasion than from a high speed hand piece. Extra-orally, the mean number of particles found at 5 different sites were not significantly different between the two groups.