Dangerous Water in Dental Offices - New Scientist

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Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology (vol 66, p 6636)

Diane dale

From New Scientist magazine, 02 September 2000.

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ORAL water sprays used by dentists contain levels of some bacteria

that could kill vulnerable patients, government researchers have

discovered.

They found that levels of opportunistic pathogens exceeded EU drinking

water safety limits in 52 out of 55 water samples taken from 21 dental

surgeries in the south-west of England.

This means people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer

patients and those with HIV infection, are at risk, the researchers

warn. of the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research

at Porton Down and his team found several types of opportunistic

pathogens in many of the dental unit water lines (DUWs) tested,

including species of Mycobacterium and Legionella--both of which can

cause life-threatening pneumonia.

of the British Dental Association (BDA) admitted to New

Scientist: " People with compromised immune systems should worry. "

The researchers also isolated oral streptoccoci in 10 per cent of the

samples. Since the bacteria is only found in the mouth, it is most

likely that during dental procedures it was sucked back into the tools

and into the DUW. Staat of the University of Louisville's

school of dentistry has also found oral streptococci in DUWs. " This is

like sharing spit, " he says.

Normally, most of the bacteria breeding in DUWs occur naturally in

the environment and pose little threat to most people. Even so,

healthy patients shouldn't be exposed to these levels of bacteria when

they are at a healthcare fac1ility, argues Hugh Pennington, a

microbiologist at the University of Aberdeen. " I wouldn't want to have

these in my mouth. "

's team found levels of bacteria between 5 and 1200 times higher

than the permitted 2500 microbes per teaspoon of water. Some of the

highest bacterial counts came from DUWs that were either supplied with

bottled water or were recently sanitised. This casts doubt on the

effectiveness of recommendations by the BDA and its US counterpart,

the American Dental Association (ADA) that surgeries should use

bottled water and disinfectants to reduce the risk from bacteria.

The ADA told New Scientist that similar studies carried out in several

US cities revealed bacterial counts that surpass its own safety

guidelines.

Dentists in both the US and Britain are advised to use sterile water

for immune compromised patients and those receiving surgery where the

gum line is cut. But both the ADA and BDA admit it's not clear how

strictly this advice is followed.

Despite the millions of people who visit a dentist each year,

contaminated dental water was blamed for only a handful of infections.

Although some patients died, the link to dental water was never

proved

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Wayne Obie

Media & Public Relations

CFMR/TalkInternational.com

http://www.talkinternational.com

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