Bacterial community composition and temporal turnover on dental clinic surfaces
Dental procedures generate aerosols and splatter that may deposit microorganisms on surrounding surfaces, potentially facilitating microbial exchange among patients, healthcare workers, and the clinical environment. However, spatial and temporal variation in microbial communities across dental clinic surfaces remains poorly understood. In this study, we characterized bacterial communities on multiple surfaces within dental operatories and a waiting area of an oral hospital using 16S rRNA gene sequencing at two sampling time points.