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Testing Water Quality

Testing Water Quality

When the quality of water for concrete preparation is uncertain, its impact on the setting time of cement and compressive strength of mortar is assessed by comparison with de-ionized or distilled water benchmarks. American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) C1602 requires the setting times to be within 90 minutes of the control, British Standard (BS) 3146:1980 allows a 30-minute variance in the initial setting, while British Standards European Norm (BS EN) 1008 specifies initial setting...

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Dental unit waterline testing practices: an 11-Year retrospective study.

Juan M Buitrago¹, Rob J Kolbe¹, Michelle F Siqueira²

¹College of Dentistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.

BMC Oral Health

|November 16, 2023

Summary

Dental clinics often fail to retest and adequately address contaminated dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) after initial high microbial counts are detected. This highlights a need for improved water quality monitoring and intervention strategies in dental practices.

Keywords:

Biofilm(s)Clinical practice guidelines Dental public health Evidence-based dentistry/health care Infection control Microbiology

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Infection Control
Public Health

Background:

Dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) can harbor microbial contamination, posing a risk to patient and dental staff health.
Maintaining safe water quality in dental settings is crucial for preventing healthcare-associated infections.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate dental clinic practices regarding DUWL testing in Saskatchewan over 11 years.
To analyze clinic responses to identified high microbial levels in DUWLs.

Main Methods:

A retrospective study analyzed 4,093 DUWL test results from 137 Saskatchewan dental clinics.
Water samples from syringes, handpieces, and ultrasonic scalers were tested for heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs).
Failures were defined as HPCs > 500 CFU/mL, with subsequent follow-up actions recorded.

Main Results:

Overall, 21% of DUWL tests failed to meet acceptable microbial standards.
A positive association was observed between testing frequency and failure rates (r=0.52, p<0.001).
Only 7% of failed tests were followed by retesting within two weeks, and 47% of these remained non-compliant.

Conclusions:

Infrequent retesting and inadequate interventions are common after DUWL failures.
There is a need for enhanced regulatory and educational initiatives to improve dental water quality.
Consistent DUWL monitoring and evidence-based interventions are essential for patient safety.