The air in dental surgeries has a variety of microbiological particulates and aerosols generated from ultrasonic scaler and high-speed drills. They vary in size from 0.5 to 5 microns in diameter and can remain airborne for many hours.
Dentists and their staff can easily inhale the viruses and bacteria contained within the aerosols, with facemasks offering no protection against this fine particulate pollution. Capturing these microorganisms reduces the risk of cross-infection – for the patient, the dentist and the team.
Dental Surgeries use chemical disinfectants to decontaminate hands, surfaces and instruments. While eliminating viruses, germs and fungal spores, disinfectants often contain toxic agents such as aldehydes (formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde) or phenol. Continuous low-level exposure to aldehydes can have negative health effects, such as breathing difficulties, memory impairment, eye and skin irritation and irregular heartbeat. Toxic compounds such as isopropanol, ethanol and n-propanol can also cause irritation of the respiratory tract and the mucous membranes.
Mercury Vapours
Recent research studies have found that both dentists and their staff have a higher than average level of mercury in their body. Mercury is used in the amalgam for routine dental fillings. Mercury transforms from a solid to a gas at room temperature. The gas (which is the most easily absorbed type of mercury) can be inhaled when amalgam is placed in the mouth or removed. Mercury is highly toxic and humans should not be exposed to it.
With this news and patients becoming more health conscious, requests for amalgam removals by dental amalgamator are rising steadily. It is therefore now more important than ever, for dentists to protect themselves and their team from this harmful substance.
Dental Air Conditioning
It is now commonplace for dentists to have air-conditioning systems installed. These installation systems are, however, often a source of contamination themselves, either because they are equipped with less then adequate filtration or because they are drawing in polluted air from outside without filtering it sufficiently. Indoor air contamination can be many times greater than external conditions, and dental air cleaning is required.
Prompted by an ever growing number of dentist offices as customers, Commercial Air Filtration specifies the IQAir Dental Series which has been developed to provide a flexible, cost effective, silent and low maintenance air cleaning solution for dental practices.