Oral pathogens: Wiping out those common concerns

What are the potential contaminants that need to be destroyed or eliminated in a dental practice?

If you think about a dental practice, the very nature of the procedures performed means there’s a lot of aerosol, as well as saliva and possibly blood mixed in.

Data suggests that perhaps one in five dental patients may have organisms that cause disease – pathogens – in their oral cavity. This can include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses, and prions.

Aerosol droplets can travel between seven to nine feet, potentially landing on multiple surfaces in the surgery and, depending on the pathogen, they can live from a few hours to a few weeks. The dental patients may not even know they carry a communicable disease, or they may choose not to reveal it. That leads to the need for universal precautions, so we are always protecting everyone – irrespective of whether someone is carrying a pathogen.