Spatter contamination in dental practices--how can it be prevented?

Area of Science:

• Dental hygiene and infection control.
• Biomedical engineering and instrumentation.

Background:

• Dental personnel face significant risks from infectious diseases transmitted via spatter and aerosols during treatments.
• Effective infection control principles are essential for all dental procedures to mitigate these risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess environmental spatter contamination during power-driven dental scaling using a fluorescence technique.
• To compare the efficacy of different high-volume evacuation (HVE) systems in reducing spatter.

Main Methods:

• An in-vitro pilot study utilized a manikin head with artificial teeth.
• Sonic (AIR) and ultrasonic (TIG, VEC) devices were used for scaling.
• HVE systems, including a new cannula (PS), standard suction cannulas (STS), and saliva ejectors (CDS), were evaluated for spatter reduction.

Main Results:

• The AIR device generated significantly more spatter than TIG and VEC devices (p<0.001).
• Subgingival scaling resulted in less spatter contamination than supragingival scaling (p < 0.001).
• HVE with STS and PS showed similar, significant reductions in spatter compared to CDS (p<0.001; p=0.002).

Conclusions:

• HVE, particularly with adequately calibrated cannulas (STS and PS), is highly effective in minimizing spatter contamination during power scaling.
• The choice of scaling instrument and technique (supra- vs. subgingival) influences spatter levels.
• This study underscores the importance of advanced HVE systems for infection control in dental settings.