Dental operatory water lines.
Water samples were collected from dental handpiece and air-water syringe lines at various times during the day and cultured for the presence and prevalence of various microbes. It was found that the longer a dental unit was out of use, the greater the microbial build-up in water lines. However, purging lines for two to three minutes at the start of the day and between patients significantly reduced microbial presence.
Beierle
J W
JW
University of Southern California School of Dentistry, Los Angeles 90089.
D003754:Dental High-Speed Equipment; D003770:Dental Offices; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply