Studies on Prevention of Contamination of Portable Dental Treatment Unit

在最近几年里有一个notable increase In the demand of home dental treatment due to theincreasing number of elderly who cannot visit dental offices. Greater efforts应该made toreduce the risk of contamination for such patients. However，portable dental treatment units have no anti-contamination device. We attempted to use the SoftOxidation Potential Water (SOPW) as a coolant in order to prevent the contamination of a portabledental treatment unit. The aims of this in vitro study to investigate The contamination ofportable dental treatment unitand to estimate the efficacy of application of SOPW. the air-turbine handpiece was contaminated byoperating 3 cycles, each being 10 seconds drive and 5 seconds stopon Steptococcus mutans MT6R suspension (1×10 x D18 x D1CFU/ml). Then the outer surface of thehandpiece was carefully wiped with 80% ethanol gauze. The contaminated bacteria in The handpiecewere collected in 10ml of saline，and the number of viable cells was measured by a standard spred-plate technique. Without applicationSOPW as a coolant，the handpiece was contaminated with S. mutans MT6R (3.17× D15 × D1CFU). On the other hand，no bacterial contamination in the handpiece was detected when SOPW was used. It suggestedSOPW a potential to prevent contamination of portable dental treatment units。

In recent years there have been a notable increase in the demand of home dental treatment due to the increasing number of elderly who cannot visit dental offices. Greater efforts should be made to reduce the risk of contamination for such patients. However, portable dental treatment units have no anti-contamination device. We attempted to use the Soft Oxidation Potential Water (SOPW) as a coolant in order to prevent the contamination of a portable dental treatment unit. The aims of this in vitro study were to investigate the contamination of portable dental treatment unit, and to estimate the efficacy of application of SOPW. The air-turbine handpiece was contaminated by operating 3 cycles, each being 10 seconds drive and 5 seconds stop, on Steptococcus mutans MT6R suspension (1×10ィイD18ィエD1CFU/ml). Then the outer surface of the handpiece was carefully wiped with 80% ethanol gauze. The contaminated bacteria in the handpiece were collected in 10 ml of saline, and the number of viable cells was measured by a standard spred-plate technique. Without application of SOPW as a coolant, the handpiece was contaminated with S. mutans MT6R (3.17×10ィイD15ィエD1CFU). On the other hand, no bacterial contamination in the handpiece was detected when SOPW was used. It was suggested that SOPW had a potential to prevent contamination of portable dental treatment units.