title: Atmospheric contamination during dental procedures.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of aerosol pollution following dental procedures performed in 15 sessions with an ultrasound scaler and a bicarbonate cleaner. The air contamination was measured by means of the Surface Air System method and the "plate" method (Air Microbial Index). Each colony-forming unit per cubic meter of air was allotted a unit value for statistical analysis. The data were then compared with the hygienic assessments made in previous studies. The results showed that the initial environmental conditions in a dental office initiated at the level of mediocre, then became very bad during dental procedures, and fell between mediocre and very bad at the end of the procedures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene, University of Bologna, School of Medicine, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Legnani
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Checchi
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pelliccioni
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: D'Achille
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D000399:Air Pressure; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003755:Dental High-Speed Technique; D003770:Dental Offices; D012534:Dental Scaling; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols