Multitudes of pathogenic and infectious microbes are known to spread via contaminated aerosols. Dental personnel have an increased incidence of respiratory infections. Ultrasonic scaling procedures are reported to produce the largest amounts of contaminated aerosols of any dental procedure. The goal of the current study was to see if dental hygienists are at an increased risk of respiratory infections during the performance of their job and to see if certain dental procedures had a significant effect on this risk. This study was conducted at the Dental Hygiene Clinic of the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in New Orleans, LA. An air monitor collected air composition data during various dental hygiene procedures, and a survey was given to dental hygiene students. The current study found significant increases in particle counts, aerosols and particulates, during ultrasonic scaling procedures. This significant increase in particle counts for a range of particles, 0.5-5.0 micron in diameter, was shown at the onset (p=0.0002) as well as throughout ultrasonic scaling procedures (p=0.0063). Aerosols of the 0.5-1.0 micron size range produced by dental procedures presents an important transportation mechanism since pathogenic bacteria and viruses can easily be carried by these size particles. Therefore, these results clarify the potential for significant risk of respiratory infection in dental hygienists. Recommendations are provided to help reduce this increased risk of aerosol mediated pathogen exposure during dental procedures. Survey analysis determined that receiving a flu shot the previous year had a significant effect on the likelihood of experiencing respiratory symptoms.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11112010-224811 |
| Date | 15 November 2010 |
| Creators | Gautreau, Christen Rebecca |
| Contributors | Diaz, James H., Wilson, Vincent L., Hugh-Jones, Martin E. |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11112010-224811/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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