Aerosols generated by high-speed handpiece and ultrasonic unit during endodontic coronal access alluding to the COVID-19 pandemic

To investigate the dispersion and contamination of aerosols generated during coronal access performed by high-speed handpiece and ultrasonic device. To measure the aerosol dispersion, a red dye or an Enterococcus faecalis culture broth inside the bottle of the water system of the dental and ultrasonic unit were used. Bovine extracted teeth were allocated in six groups according to the coronal access: G1: diamond bur in high-speed handpiece (HS) with aspiration (A); G2: ultrasonic (US) inserts with aspiration; G3: combined coronal access with HS and US with aspiration; and G4, G5, and G6 were performed without aspiration (WA). The distance reached by the aerosol with the dye was measured in centimeters, and for environment contamination, agar-plates were arranged at standardized distances for counting colony-forming units (CFU/mL). The ANOVA followed by the Tukey tests were applied (alpha = 0.05). The coronal access with HS generated higher aerosol dispersion and contamination, even with simultaneous A (P < 0.05), while US generated less aerosol even WA (P < 0.05). The aspiration did not reduce the aerosol statistically. HS is a great source of aerosols in dental clinic during the coronal access and the use of US device should be encouraged.

Automated summary

This study investigated the dispersion and contamination of aerosols generated during coronal access performed by high-speed handpiece and ultrasonic device. The results showed that the coronal access with high-speed handpiece generated higher aerosol dispersion and contamination, even with simultaneous aspiration, while the ultrasonic device generated less aerosol, even without aspiration. Therefore, the use of ultrasonic device should be encouraged to reduce aerosol contamination in dental clinics.