Dental Unit Waterlines and Microbial Contamination Waterline treatment has become the topic of the day, and its product sets are growing year over year at an astounding 15% growth. Why is that? Take a look at what has been going on in the news lately and you will find that the media has it out there. Children and immunocompromised individuals are most susceptible to waterborne illnesses related to dental unit waterlines. These waterlines are the lines that service into the client’s mouth. Water traveling through high speed hand pieces, air water syringe tips, ultrasonic scaling units, ultimately transports these troublesome issues. As studies become available the awareness of waterline treatment has been stirred. It is all about the client’s …show more content…
These organisms are attracted to solid, moistened surfaces. Biofilm contains a protective polysaccharide insoluble slime layer which defends it from dying. The majority of microorganisms are from main source water. For example, water coming from tap, distilled, or sterile. These waterborne pathogens, such as, Legionella, Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been linked with hospital contaminations as well as immunocompromised patients (Fotedar & Ganju, 2014). Dental units and equipment incorporate water systems to deliver water which acts as a coolant and also maintain moisture on teeth during dental procedure treatments. Narrow bore plastic or polyurethane tubing, stated as dental unit waterlines (DUWL), is the means by way water is supplied to these instruments. This tubing is approximately 1/16th inch or 2 millimeters in diameter. Water from city sources travels through roughly a 10-inch-wide channel, then to the dental office ½ inch plumbing, and lastly to the dental unit water lines of just 1/16th inch (Slonczewski, 2012). As the water approaches the DUWL, the flow greatly decreases. The amount of water stagnation because of this tight constriction as well as offices being closed over weekends encourages microbial …show more content…
2012, March 29). This states that, using distilled or even sterile water in a self-contained bottle is not considered treating the water unless a chemical is also involved. Murdoch-Kinch et al. (1997), emphasize that when dental unit waterline maintenance procedures are precisely followed, DUWL contamination can be controlled. It is recommended to flush the dental unit waterlines at the beginning of each day for several minutes. Also, flushing the lines in-between patients for 20-30 seconds will reduce the number of bacteria in the DUWL. Although this may be a temporary reduction and the bacterial growth will proliferate quickly, the decrease in bacterial count warrants this (Slonczewski 2012). Basically, flushing the DUWL is imperative to limit bacterial
All members were in attendance at the Metcalfe County Fiscal Court meeting on Tuesday as Sheriff Rondal Shirley and Deputy Charles Massey presented new information concerning the replacement of a vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department.
| UNIT 4222- 264 THE PRINCIPLES OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL | | | |
While shadowing my fellow upper cohorts during the clinic I had made many observations. Unfortunately I was only able to shadow one clinic, although I observed a lot. Marie was the first student that I was shadowing, she was the CA for the day. We started by stocking the cabinets with the necessities. Marie and I then took the dental tools out of the machines that cleaned, sterilized, and dried them. I was shown that there are two sides in the lab. What I mean by this is that the left side is a dirty side which you should always wear gloves so that you are always protected from the bacteria and germs that the tools carry. Everything on this side has to be handled carefully and you must always wash and sanitize your hands when you are through. The right side is the clean side where the tools and dental accessories are kept so that they stay clean and sterile. Next I was with Jennifer, although she had no patients that day due to a
Want a bright healthy smile? The Waterpik flosser is a device that utilizes water to remove plague and food from your teeth in substitute for dental floss. The stream of water pumped through the flosser’s tip deep cleans between the teeth and below the mouth’s gum line to efficiently eliminate plague and food particles where brushing and dental floss cannot reach. The water flosser takes only one minute per day to meet dentist requirements compared with three to five minutes per day with dental floss. The dial located on the Waterpik allows adjustable water pressure from gentle to more powerful cleaning. It’s made to be so easy! Before or after brushing your teeth, fill with warm water; point the tip, lean over the sink, and allow the Waterpik
Also another serious complication of CAUTI is BSI (Blood stream infections) that can be fatal if not caught and treated promptly. “The Clinical Performance of Quality Health Care, along with Joint Commission” offers standards and objectives for facilities to assess measure and improve their standards at the lowest cost possible. The database covers nursing care and education, along with guidelines on prevention. Moreover the JCAHO regulatory standards for catheterized patients are explained and the documentation that is expected when JCAHO inspections are rendered in a facility. The source “Stop orders to reduce inappropriate urinary catheterization in hospitalized patients” states that by following standard precautions with every patient these infections can be prevented. . Also the source explored whether catheters should be used at all in an effort to decrease the incidence of CAUTI’s. Intermittent catheterizations along with supra-pubic were explored with a decreased incidence of bacteria being present in the bladder afterwards. The source “Strategies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections in acute care hospitals” offered ways of cleansing and disinfecting the skin before insertion to reduce the risk of infection. Many CAUTI’s are linked to bacteria harboring in or around the site at insertion. By using not only aseptic technique but also cleansing the skin with chlorhexadine can decrease he incidence of infection
There are two important things to do in a dental office in order to prevent cross infection. These two forms are sterilization and disinfection. According to the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration before either of these forms can be used you have to clean the instruments. This can be done either by hand or by using an ultrasonic cleaner.
It is important that we have this knowledge and constantly build on it because there still isn’t any valid ground. We can say “we think this can happen” but as more studies come out we can change that thought or idea into a valid explanation. Although you can’t convince every person into believing something, having proof behind your explanation is going to be more persuasive than just stating what you’ve heard.
Oral care aims to supply an adequate hygiene level, which leads to reduce colonisation of dental plaque and oropharynx and to reduce the aspiration of contaminated secretions into the lower airway (Feider et al. 2010). Research has demonstrated that colonisation of the airway and aspiration of colonised saliva are the two main pathogenic causes of VAP (Adib-Hajbaghery et al. 2011). Other cause is the production of a biofilm along the endotracheal tube (ETT) which contains large quantities of microbes that could be spread into the lungs by ventilator-induced breaths (Keyt et al. 2014; Palomar et al. 2010). Additionally, instilling saline into the ETT, suctioning secretions, repositioning the ETT or coughing, could dislodge the biofilm into the airway and increase the risk of VAP (Moore. 2003; Morehead and Pinto. 2002).
Dental assistant need to follow the universal precaution that OSHA has lay for them to protect themselves from getting physically hurt and avoid getting ill from infected patients in the job. The three main modes of transition when working in a dental office are by open wounds, eyes or mouth exposure and accidentally getting poke by a use needle. Knowing how bacteria and viruses survived gives dental assistant the advantage of fighting them off. Bacteria are all around us; even inside of us, helping the human body work properly. Some bacteria make individuals ill, but good bacteria fight out harmful bacteria making the human body feel better. The more good bacteria the human body has the less room it leaves for harmful bacteria. Not like bacteria
Oral health care is an integral part of the US healthcare system. In 2012, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced “The Comprehensive Dental Reform Act”, which aimed on expanding dental coverage, accessible oral health care centers, increase in dental workforce, enhanced dental education and encourage dental research. (Congress.gov). The ACA, aim to curb the national health spending, by facilitating the affordability to quality care through private and public health insurance. The purpose of this bill is to cut the healthcare costs and to reverse the “silent epidemic” of dental health status (surgeon gen). This dental bill with an integrated approach towards the preventive and comprehensive oral healthcare is estimated to provide coverage to almost 17.7 million adults. (ADA
Infection control is very important in the health care profession. It’s very important that we as a dental assistant make sure we follow the guidelines to protect the patient, the community and ourselves. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, can expose multiple bacteria and diseases to others. The main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel. Today, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. We have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and take special precautions when handling them. In this essay, I will go in detail of infection control practices in dental clinics and how infectious microorganisms are transmitted in the dental clinic. Also, I will talk about some infection control guidelines that are important in dental clinics and how to protect the dental professional environment and dental professions.
Infection control is a central concept to every practice of health care providers. Its main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel (Martin et al., 2010). In dental clinic, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. They have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and special precautions must be taken to handle them. In this essay, I will highlight the scope of infection control practices in dental clinics and the ways through which infectious microorganisms are transmitted
Background Current literature provides ample evidence that water baths used in health care settings are potential reservoirs for microorganisms associated with patient infections. Such results suggest a similar potential for heating appliances used to fabricate thermoplastic forms.
The topic of biofilm formation and prevention has intrigued researchers for years. Biofilms can lead to serious infections, and are extremely difficult to treat after they have already formed. Due to this difficulty, prevention rather than treatment has become a focal point of biofilm research. Different materials could be tested for potential antimicrobial properties, which, if possessed, could be incorporated into the polymers which compose medical implants. This research could also be used in an industrial context, as biofilms also form on marine engineering systems, cooling or heating water systems, and other industrial environments where they can lead to corrosion and bacterial contamination. If a certain substance is found to have antimicrobial properties which would not damage the tissue surrounding a medical implant or other indwelling medical device, then the substance could potentially be incorporated into the material which makes up the implants or devices in order to prevent harmful biofilms from forming. While there are many methods of preventing biofilms, researchers are still trying to find new ways to treat biofilms which already exist within a host.
For Hand hygiene, the dental care team requires all visitors to wash hand with Hibiscrub. As for dentist themselves, no rings or decorations are allowed so as to reduce the colonization of bacteria on hands. They are required to wash hand at least 3 times during each session. When performing service, there should only be a one-direction hand movement along the 3 zones, from clean to working to dirty zone, in order to prevent contamination of sterile instruments.