TY - JOUR
T1 - Aerosolized bacteria and microbial activity in dental clinics during cleaning procedures
AU - Adhikari, Atin
AU - Kurella, Sushma
AU - Banerjee, Pratik
AU - Mitra, Aniruddha
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the funding from the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development (VPRED), Georgia Southern University. There are no financial interests to disclose. Technical assistance from Mrs. Nabanita Mukherjee, Mrs. Bushra Shah, Mr. Brenden Jenkins, Mr. Alexander Purdy, Mr. William Aslaner, Mr. Christopher Drew, and Ms. Y.M. Chandana Gollapudi during laboratory works, development of sampling set-up, and air sampling at the dental clinics are graciously acknowledged. The authors are also thankful to dental clinic managers for providing access to dental clinic rooms during cleaning procedures. Dr. Atin Adhikari: Dr. Adhikari is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA. He has a PhD degree in the field of environmental microbiology from Bose Institute, India. He received his post-doctoral training from the Center for Health-related Aerosol Studies, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Dr. Adhikari's current research is focused on exposure assessment and characterization of airborne and dustborne microorganisms, aeroallergens, endotoxin, and other microbial contaminants in occupational, residential, and ambient environments, which are relevant to respiratory allergy, asthma, infectious diseases, and modulations of immune systems. Dr. Sushma Kurella: Dr. Kurella has completed her internship at Integrated Care Leadership program in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA and recently joined in the DrPH program of Jiann Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University. She holds a MPH degree in Community Health from Georgia Southern University and a BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree from India. S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics) to assess the overall microbial risk in a given sample by microbial community and gene structure analysis (microbiome research). Dr. Pratik Banerjee: Dr. Banerjee is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health in the School of Public Heath in University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He received his PhD from Purdue University, USA in 2008 working in the area of rapid detection of pathogens. His environmental health research aims to develop biosensors and other molecular methods for screening and characterization of microbes from environmental (food, water, air, soil), and clinical samples. He also uses Next-Generation Sequencing methods (16 Dr. Aniruddha Mitra: Dr. Mitra is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology, Georgia Southern University, USA. He has received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nevada, Reno, USA. He has previous professional experience in working at an automobile industry in its Research and Development wing. Also, he is a Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Georgia. He is currently serving as the Director of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) program funded by the State of Georgia, USA.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Use of sharp instruments, handpieces, water-air sprays, and high speed rotary devices during dental cleaning procedures can release oral bacteria, which may cause significant occupational bioaerosol exposure risks. This study aimed at sampling of airborne bacteria and identification of prevalent bacterial genera and testing of overall microbial activity in settled splatter over clinic floors in several US dental clinic rooms during dental cleaning procedures (n = 15). Culturable airborne bacteria were measured by a Biostage impactor and the diversity and relative abundance of the airborne culturable bacterial community were evaluated by pyrosequencing of 16s rRNA genes. ATP levels were determined in swabbed splatter samples collected from floor surfaces for understanding overall microbial activity and estimating the general cleanliness of the clinic surfaces. Concentrations at the beginning, during, and after dental cleaning procedures were 671±525, 917±1203, and 899±823 CFU/m3, respectively for airborne bacteria and 91±101, 243±129, and 139±77 RLU/sample, respectively for ATP levels on floors. The dominant bacterial phylum was Proteobacteria. A total of 45 bacterial genera were detected, notable among them included Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas, Sporosarcina, and Streptococcus. Several pathogenic bacterial species such as Psychrobacter sp. (including P. pulmonis, and P. faecalis), Streptococcus sp. (including S. thermophiles, S. parasanguinis, and S. oralis), Pseudomonas sp. (including P. graminis) were identified in air samples collected at different stages of the dental cleaning procedures. The concentration of airborne bacteria in dental clinic rooms did not increase significantly during the cleaning procedures. The diversity of culturable bacteria, however, changed. This change in the diversity and the similarity in major taxa detected in our study to the bacterial taxa reported recently from acute or chronic root canal infections and supragingival plaque samples indicate that oral bacteria from patients can significantly contribute to airborne bacterial load in dental clinics during cleaning procedures.
AB - Use of sharp instruments, handpieces, water-air sprays, and high speed rotary devices during dental cleaning procedures can release oral bacteria, which may cause significant occupational bioaerosol exposure risks. This study aimed at sampling of airborne bacteria and identification of prevalent bacterial genera and testing of overall microbial activity in settled splatter over clinic floors in several US dental clinic rooms during dental cleaning procedures (n = 15). Culturable airborne bacteria were measured by a Biostage impactor and the diversity and relative abundance of the airborne culturable bacterial community were evaluated by pyrosequencing of 16s rRNA genes. ATP levels were determined in swabbed splatter samples collected from floor surfaces for understanding overall microbial activity and estimating the general cleanliness of the clinic surfaces. Concentrations at the beginning, during, and after dental cleaning procedures were 671±525, 917±1203, and 899±823 CFU/m3, respectively for airborne bacteria and 91±101, 243±129, and 139±77 RLU/sample, respectively for ATP levels on floors. The dominant bacterial phylum was Proteobacteria. A total of 45 bacterial genera were detected, notable among them included Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas, Sporosarcina, and Streptococcus. Several pathogenic bacterial species such as Psychrobacter sp. (including P. pulmonis, and P. faecalis), Streptococcus sp. (including S. thermophiles, S. parasanguinis, and S. oralis), Pseudomonas sp. (including P. graminis) were identified in air samples collected at different stages of the dental cleaning procedures. The concentration of airborne bacteria in dental clinic rooms did not increase significantly during the cleaning procedures. The diversity of culturable bacteria, however, changed. This change in the diversity and the similarity in major taxa detected in our study to the bacterial taxa reported recently from acute or chronic root canal infections and supragingival plaque samples indicate that oral bacteria from patients can significantly contribute to airborne bacterial load in dental clinics during cleaning procedures.
KW - Bioaerosol
KW - Indoor air quality
KW - Metagenomics
KW - Occupational hygiene
KW - Oral microorganisms
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2017.09.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2017.09.019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029827590
SN - 0021-8502
VL - 114
SP - 209
EP - 218
JO - Journal of Aerosol Science
JF - Journal of Aerosol Science
ER -