Efficacy of aerosol reduction measures for dental aerosol generating procedures

Abstract

Aerosol particles generated by dental procedures could facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases and contain carcinogen particles. Such particles can penetrate common surgical masks and reach the lungs, leading to increased risk for dental care professionals. However, the risk of inhaling contaminated aerosol and the effectiveness of aerosol reduction measures in dental offices remain unclear. The present study aimed to quantify aerosols produced by drilling and scaling procedures and to evaluate present recommendations for aerosol reduction. The concentration of aerosol particles released from the mock scaling and drilling procedures performed on a dental mannequin were measured using a TSI Optical Particle Sizer (OPS 3330) during 15-min sessions carried out in a single-patient examination room. Using the mock drilling procedure as the aerosol source, the aerosol reduction performance of two types of high-volume evacuators (HVEs) and a commercial off-the-shelf air purifier was evaluated in a simulated clinical setting. The use of either HVEs or the air purifier individually reduced the aerosol accumulated over the course of a 15-min drilling procedure at a reduction rate of 94.8 to 97.6%. Using both measures simultaneously raised the reduction rate to 99.6%. The results show that existing HVEs can effectively reduce aerosol concentration generated by a drilling procedure and can be further improved by using an air purifier. Following current regulatory guidelines can ensure a low risk of inhaling contaminated aerosol for dentists, assistants, and patients.

Copyright © 2022 American Association for Aerosol Research

EDITOR:

• Jonathan P. Reid

Acknowledgments

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. We sincerely thank Loïc Wingert from the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) for their generous loan of the OPS 3330 and technical guidance. The suggestions, comments, and encouragements of Dr. Caroline Duchaine are gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Caroline Duchaine for sharing the results with the Quebec dentist community and regulatory agencies. We sincerely thank Brendan Leslie Kelly, Dr. Didem Dagdeviren and Dr. Natalie Morin from the McGill University Faculty of Dentistry for their loan of the experimental equipment. We sincerely thank Katherine Hales and the McGill Seeds of Change team, Niousha Noushi, Andrée Lessard, Julie Brown, and David Leblanc for their help in raising funds for the project.

Authors’ contributions

Z. He and Q. Gao contributed to the conception, study design, data acquisition and interpretation, drafted and critically revised the manuscript. A. Henley contributed to the study design and data acquisition. Z. D. Der Khatchadourian, W. Somerville, F. Tamimi and L. Mongeau contributed to conception and study design, and critically revised the manuscript. Z. D. Der Khatchadourian and M. Wiseman provided test facilities and guidance in the experimental procedure. All authors gave their final approval and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the gracious donors of the McGill Seeds of Change program, and by partial support from grant NIH DC 018577 (Mongeau, PI). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of NIH.