Particle Size, Mass Concentration, and Microbiota in Dental Aerosols

Many dental procedures are considered aerosol-generating procedures that may put the dental operator and patients at risk for cross-infection due to contamination from nasal secretions and saliva. This aerosol, depending on the size of the particles, may stay suspended in the air for hours. The prim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dental research 2022-07, Vol.101 (7), p.785-792
Main Authors: Rafiee, A., Carvalho, R., Lunardon, D., Flores-Mir, C., Major, P., Quemerais, B., Altabtbaei, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosols
Bayesian analysis
Contamination
COVID-19
Cross-infection
Dentures
Microbiota
Operators
Orthodontics
Particle size
Patients
Research Reports
Ribosomal DNA
Saliva
Secretions
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Summary:Many dental procedures are considered aerosol-generating procedures that may put the dental operator and patients at risk for cross-infection due to contamination from nasal secretions and saliva. This aerosol, depending on the size of the particles, may stay suspended in the air for hours. The primary objective of the study was to characterize the size and concentrations of particles emitted from 7 different dental procedures, as well as estimate the contribution of the nasal and salivary fluids of the patient to the microbiota in the emitted bioaerosol. This cross-sectional study was conducted in an open-concept dental clinic with multiple operators at the same time. Particle size characterization and mass and particle concentrations were done by using 2 direct reading instruments: Dust-Trak DRX (Model 8534) and optical particle sizer (Model 3330). Active bioaerosol sampling was done before and during procedures. Bayesian modeling (SourceTracker2) of long-reads of the 16S ribosomal DNA was used to estimate the contribution of the patients’ nasal and salivary fluids to the bioaerosol. Aerosols in most dental procedures were sub-PM1 dominant. Orthodontic debonding and denture adjustment consistently demonstrated more particles in the PM1, PM2.5, PM4, and PM10 ranges. The microbiota in bioaerosol samples were significantly different from saliva and nasal samples in both membership and abundance (P 
ISSN:0022-0345
1544-0591
DOI:10.1177/00220345221087880