Featured Review: Do measures that aim to reduce aerosol production during dental procedures prevent the transmission of infectious diseases?

Review: Interventions to reduce contaminated aerosols produced during dental procedures for preventing infectious diseasesWhy is this question important?Most dental care procedures create tiny drops of liquid that float in the air, called aerosols. For example, to remove the film of bacteria (plaque) that builds on teeth, dentists use scaling machines (scalers). Scalers vibrate at high speed and use a flow of water to wash away the plaque. This produces aerosols that are made of air, water, and the patient ’s saliva, which may also contain micro‐organisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses.Aerosols that contain bacteria, fungi or viruses can spread infectious diseases. Limiting the production of these aerosols could help to prevent disease transmission in a dental setting.A range of approaches can be used to reduce production of potentially infectious aerosols during dental procedures. These include:ways to decontaminate the mouth before aerosols are produced, for example by using anti ‐microbial mouthwash;ways to prevent aerosols from leaving the mouth (for example, placing a rubber sheet – known as a ‘dam’ – around the tooth that is to be treated, to isolate the treatment zone from saliva; or using a straw‐like suction tube known as a saliva ejector);local ventilation using a suction device (known as a high ‐volume evacuator) that draws up a large volume of air and evacuates aerosols from the treatment zone;general ventilation, to reduce the concentration...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news