Dental Unit Water Line Management

Dental unit water lines (DUWLs) are an integral part of dental treatment systems. They provide water for lubrication during mechanical processes, instrument cooling and irrigation during treatment.

Studies have indicated that high levels of bacteria are frequently present in the water delivered from the unit to the patient's mouth (Barbeau et al, 1996; Walker et al, 2000). Bacterial contamination of DUWL output water results from feed water contamination and bacteria released from biofilm in the DUWL system.

Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature. They are found mainly in aqueous environments but also on solid surfaces in the dry state (Espinal et al, 2012).

These bacteria present a relatively low risk in terms of pathogenicity to healthy people; it is the biofilms’ potential to support more pathogenic species of bacteria, such as the Pseudomonas species, that gives rise to the infection control risk.