Contaminación bacteriana de la pieza de mano de alta velocidad, jeringa triple y equipo ultrasónico por la producción de aerosoles según el área de especialidad en los centros de especialidades odontológicas de Azogues de la Universidad Católica de Cuenca en el Periodo 2023

Abstract

In dental clinics, activities pose microbiological contamination risks to professionals and patients. Objective: To determine the degree of bacterial contamination in the turbine, triple syringe, and ultrasonic equipment according to the area of specialty in the Dental Specialty Centers (CEO by its Spanish acronym) of the Catholic University of Cuenca Campus Azogues (UCACUE by its Spanish acronym). Methodology: An observational and descriptive study was conducted in the CEO I and II of the UCACUE, sampling 24 dental chairs, 8 in CEO I and 16 in CEO II; 48 samples were collected from the high-speed handpiece, ultrasonic equipment, and triple syringe in the areas of Periodontics, Endodontics, and Operative Dentistry; the samples were taken, sowed, incubated, counted and bacterial identification was performed with the respective informed consent. Results: Data revealed that 86.25% of samples indicated bacterial growth, with a moderate degree of contamination on average across all three specialty areas; 43.75% of the equipment presented medium contamination, 27.08% low contamination, and 14.58% high contamination. Sixty-nine colonies were observed; 27.6% corresponded to Gram-negative bacteria and 72.4% to Gram-positive bacteria; Gram-positive cocci in clusters were the most prevalent (44.9%). Conclusions: In closing, a moderate level of bacterial contamination was observed, with the Periodontics area and the triple syringe displaying the highest contamination, primarily with Gram-positive cocci clusters in all three areas.