Virus transmission by ultrasonic scaler and its prevention by antiviral agent: An in vitro study

Abstract

Background: It is well recognized that dental procedures represent a potential way of infection transmission. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of dental procedure associated transmission has rapidly changed from bacteria to viruses. The aim was to develop an experimental setup for testing the spread of viruses by ultrasonic scaler (USS) generated dental spray and evaluate its mitigation by antiviral coolants. Methods: In a virus transmission tunnel, the dental spray was generated by USS with saline coolant and suspension of Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) delivered to the USS tip. Virus transmission by settled droplets was evaluated with adherent RK13 cell lines culture monolayer. The suspended droplets were collected by a cyclone aero-sampler. Antiviral activity of 0.25% NaOCl and electrolyzed oxidizing water (EOW) was tested using a suspension test. Antiviral agents' transmission prevention ability was evaluated by using them as a coolant. Results: In the suspension test with 0.25% NaOCl or EOW, the TCID50/mL was below the detection limit after 5 seconds. With saline coolant, the EAV-induced cytopathic effect on RK13 cells was found up to the distance of 45 cm, with the number of infected cells decreasing with distance. By aero-sampler, viral particles were detected in concentration ≤4.2 TCID50/mL. With both antiviral agents used as coolants, no EAV-associated RK-13 cell infection was found. Conclusion:We managed to predictably demonstrate EAV spread by droplets because of USS action. More importantly, we managed to mitigate the spread by a simple substitution of the USS coolant with NaOCl or EOW.

Waterline Disinfectants Reduce Dental Bioaerosols: A Multitracer Validation

“…Finally, this study shows that ICX reduces MS2 dispersion in aerosols, but other viruses may not necessarily behave in the same way. Only 1 other bacteriophage, Pseudomonas virus phi6 (Vernon et al 2021), has been investigated in simulated dental bioaerosols in clinical settings, and in nonclinical dental simulations, 2 studies have used other human (Ionescu et al 2021) and equine viruses (Fidler et al 2021). There therefore remains a need to examine the behavior of different viruses in bioaerosols and those that are clinically relevant.…”

Antimicrobial efficacy, mode of action and in vivo use of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) for prevention or therapeutic support of infections

“…HOCl has proven to be substantially more effective than bleach (strongly alkaline solutions with the dominance of OCl – ), yet does not yield development of specific resistance of individual pathogens [ 27 ], [ 28 ]. A paper by the Swiss Federal Health Office (BAG) reports the relative biocidal effectivity of HOCl, OCl – , and NH 2 Cl against E. coli (based on data from Butterfield et al [ 25 ], [ 26 ].…”

Concise evaluation and therapeutic guidelines for severe periodontitis: A public health perspective

“…Sabeti et al 12 a. Cooling spray in ultrasonic scalers using sodium hypochlorite 13 or 1% povidoneiodine (Betadine®) 14 to reduce pathogenic viruses and bacteria and minimize aerosolization of infectious agents b. Flosser fluid in oral irrigators in patient self-care: newer types of oral irrigators tolerate dilute sodium hypochlorite c. Mouthrinse in patient self-care 15,16 : freshly prepared 0.1%-0.2% sodium hypochlorite for a 30-s oral rinsing at 2-3 times weekly. Dilute sodium hypochlorite is safe and effective in reducing dental biofilm build-up and gingival inflammation (bleeding).…”

“…Cooling spray in ultrasonic scalers using sodium hypochlorite 13 or 1% povidone‐iodine (Betadine®) 14 to reduce pathogenic viruses and bacteria and minimize aerosolization of infectious agents…”