Assessing the clinical effectiveness of an - Aerosol reduction device for the air polisher

Background. Because of the growing concern of the infectious nature of aero sols produced by air polishers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent ion and the American Dental Association have made recommendations to minimi ze dental aerosols. In addition, a device was developed in 1997,to reduce t he aerosol generated during air polishing. Methods. The authors conducted a blinded clinical study to determine the ef fectiveness of an aerosol reduction device during air polishing. All 30 sub jects underwent two minutes of air polishing, one with the aerosol reductio n device on one side of the mouth and one without the device on the opposit e side. Microbial samples were collected on blood agar plates positioned 12 inches from the subject's mouth and from one plate attached to the dental hygienist's face mask. The sample plates were then inverted and incubated f or three days at 37 C. Results. Using the paired t-test, the authors found that the air polisher w ithout the aerosol reduction device generated a significantly greater mean quantity of colony-forming units, or CFUs, 12 inches from the subject's mou th (mean +/- standard deviation, 148.00 +/- 145.00 CFUs) than the air polis her with the aerosol reduction device (20.10 +/- 53.90 CFUs) (P < .0001). I n addition,the air polisher without the aerosol reduction device generated a significantly greater number of CFUs on the face mask plate (40.90 +/- 33 .80 CFUs) than the air polisher with the aerosol reduction device (8.80 +/- 15.10 CFUs) (P < .0001). Conclusion. The data suggest that the aerosol reduction device is effective in reducing the number of microorganisms generated during air polishing. Clinical Implications. Air polishing with the aerosol reduction device may decrease the potential for disease transmission.