In the dental care environment, prophylaxis specialists like you play a decisive role in helping patients maintain good oral and dental health. In this blog post we will discuss the challenges you face on a daily basis: from managing aerosols to fulfilling the expectations of your patients. At the same time, we would like to introduce you to a new product, a world’s first, which will help to make your routine work noticeably easier.

Ultrasonic scaling is a spray mist and aerosol-generating procedure. Spray mist and aerosols impair the visibility of the treatment area. Moreover, aerosols pose a health hazard that should not be underestimated.

Aerosols in the dental operatory represent a health risk, because they have the potential to transfer infectious viruses and bacteria from patients to dental prophylaxis staff as well as to other dental professionals and patients in the dental office.^[1]
Certain standard prophylaxis procedures, for example, ultrasonic scaling, generate high amounts of potentially infectious aerosols consisting of water used for cooling, saliva, biofilms and blood.^[2]

The risk of infection to dental personnel and patients cannot be entirely eliminated. Aerosols can remain suspended in the operatory for up to 30 minutes, and they may spread throughout the dental office by way of the ventilation system. Various measures should be combined to reduce this health risk to the best possible extent^[2]:

• Personal protection by wearing a face mask, gloves and safety glasses
  
• Reduction of the infectious load carried by the patient by means of the routine use of aseptic mouth rinses before dental procedures. It is important to note, however, that mouth rinses are not very effective against bacteria in biofilms on teeth (plaque), gums and in periodontal pockets. Therefore, during the mechanical removal of biofilms by means of ultrasonic scaling, harmful bacteria may still be spread.
  
• Suppression of aerosols: An effective way of suppressing aerosols involves binding them before they are formed. This reduces the likelihood of spreading airborne diseases during ultrasonic scaling treatments. Our innovative solution, a world’s first, reduces the aerosol generated by ultrasonic scalers by up to 99 per cent.