Contamination and control of environmental surfaces and personal protective equipment in dental clinics: a multi-centre study

IF 3.9 3区医学 Q1 INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Journal of Hospital Infection Pub Date : 2025-04-18 DOI:10.1016/j.jhin.2025.03.015

J. Ding , M. Huang , Y. Shen , H. Dong , T. Yuan , Y. Jin , L. Li , X. Gui , R. Shen , M. Tang , Y. Zhang , Y. Shen , H. Huang , H. Ban , Y. Yang , E. Lu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Dental procedures are associated with the production of aerosols, blood, and saliva splashes. However, the extent of blood contamination on surfaces during dental procedures remains largely unknown.

Aim

To evaluate the contamination of environmental surfaces and personal protective equipment (PPEs) in dental clinics and effects of subsequent disinfection measures.

Methods

The study was conducted in five dental clinics in Shanghai. The contamination on environmental surfaces around dental chairs, gloves, and face shields was quantified using occult blood detection and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence analysis. Results of ATP tests are displayed in relative light units (RLU). Further analysis was conducted following the implementation of standardized cleaning and disinfection protocols.

Findings

The presence of occult blood on gloves was most frequent during tooth extraction (67.65%), while the highest RLU values were observed for crown and brace procedures (median: 3214; interquartile range (IQR): 18.00–5371.00). The positive rate of occult blood on face shields was 24.00% (median RLU: 59; IQR: 14.75–206.75). Environmental surfaces most severely contaminated with occult blood were dental chair sink (87.00%), handpiece handle (48.00%), and saliva ejector handle (36.00%). Disinfection measures significantly reduced contamination levels at all sites, with both methods demonstrating substantial reductions in contamination for the dental chair sink, saliva ejector handle, and handpiece handle.

Conclusion

This study identified high-risk contamination sites and procedures in dental clinics. Disinfection is effective against surface contamination with blood.

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牙科诊所环境表面和个人防护设备的污染和控制：一项多中心研究。

目的：牙科手术与气溶胶、血液和唾液飞溅的产生有关。然而，在牙科手术过程中，血液污染表面的程度在很大程度上仍然未知。我们评估了牙科诊所环境表面和个人防护设备（ppe）的污染情况以及后续消毒措施的效果。方法：在上海市5家牙科诊所进行研究。我们使用潜血检测和三磷酸腺苷（ATP）生物发光分析对牙科椅、手套和面罩周围环境表面的污染进行了量化。ATP测试结果以相对光单位（RLU）显示。在实施标准化清洁和消毒方案后进行了进一步分析。结果：拔牙时手套上隐血发生率最高（67.65%），冠支具上RLU值最高（3214,IQR: 18.00-5371.00）。面罩潜血阳性率为24.00%，RLU中位数为59 （IQR: 14.75 ~ 206.75）。潜血污染最严重的环境表面为牙科椅槽（87.00%）、手机手柄（48.00%）和唾液喷射器手柄（36.00%）。消毒措施显著降低了所有场所的污染水平，两种方法都表明，牙科椅水槽、唾液喷吐器手柄和手机手柄的污染都大大减少了。结论：本研究确定了牙科诊所的高风险污染地点和程序。消毒对表面的血液污染是有效的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Hospital Infection 医学-传染病学

CiteScore

12.70

自引率

5.80%

发文量

271

审稿时长

19 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Hospital Infection is the editorially independent scientific publication of the Healthcare Infection Society. The aim of the Journal is to publish high quality research and information relating to infection prevention and control that is relevant to an international audience. The Journal welcomes submissions that relate to all aspects of infection prevention and control in healthcare settings. This includes submissions that: provide new insight into the epidemiology, surveillance, or prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings; provide new insight into cleaning, disinfection and decontamination; provide new insight into the design of healthcare premises; describe novel aspects of outbreaks of infection; throw light on techniques for effective antimicrobial stewardship; describe novel techniques (laboratory-based or point of care) for the detection of infection or antimicrobial resistance in the healthcare setting, particularly if these can be used to facilitate infection prevention and control; improve understanding of the motivations of safe healthcare behaviour, or describe techniques for achieving behavioural and cultural change; improve understanding of the use of IT systems in infection surveillance and prevention and control.