title: Italian multicentre study on microbial environmental contamination in dental clinics: a pilot study.
abstract: The dental practice is associated with a high risk of infections, both for patients and healthcare operators, and the environment may play an important role in the transmission of infectious diseases. A microbiological environmental investigation was carried out in six dental clinics as a pilot study for a larger multicentre study that will be performed by the Italian SItI (Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health) working group "Hygiene in Dentistry". Microbial contamination of water, air and surfaces was assessed in each clinic during the five working days of the week, before and during treatments. Air and surfaces were also examined at the end of the daily activity. A wide variation was found in microbial environmental contamination, both within the participating clinics and relative to the different sampling times. Microbial water contamination in Dental Unit Water Systems (DUWS) reached values of up to 26x10(4)cfu/mL (colony forming units per millilitre). P. aeruginosa was found in 33% of the sampled DUWS and Legionella spp. in 50%. A significant decrease in the Total Viable Count (TVC) was recorded during the activity. Microbial air contamination showed the highest levels during dental treatments and tended to decrease at the end of the working activity (p<0.05). Microbial buildup on surfaces increased significantly during the working hours. As these findings point out, research on microbial environmental contamination and the related risk factors in dental clinics should be expanded and should also be based on larger collections of data, in order to provide the essential knowledge aimed at targeted preventive interventions.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy. ira.pasquarella@unipr.irT
authors.forename: Cesira
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pasquarella
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veronesi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castiglia
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liguori
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Napoli
authors.forename: Rolando
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rizzetto
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.forename: Maria Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Masia
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Onofrio
authors.forename: Maria Eugenia
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Colucci
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tinteri
authors.forename: Marialuisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanzi
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003740:Dental Clinics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007875:Legionella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants