Nanoparticle concentrations and composition in a dental office and dental laboratory: A pilot study on the influence of working procedures

ABSTRACTDuring material treatment in dentistry particles of different size are released in the air. To examine the degree of particle exposure, air scanning to dental employees was performed by the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. The size, shape and chemical composition of particles collected with a low-pressure impactor were determined by scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray dispersive analysis. The average concentrations of nanoparticles during working periods in a clean dental laboratory (45,000–56,000 particles/cm3), in an unclean dental laboratory (28,000–74,000 particles/cm3), and in a dental office (21,000–50,000 particles/cm3), were significantly higher compared to average concentrations during nonworking periods in the clean dental laboratory (11,000–24,000 particles/cm3), unclean laboratory (14,000–40,000 particles/cm3), and dental office (13,000–26,000 particles/cm3). Peak concentration of nanoparticles in work-intensive periods were found significantly higher (up to 773,000 particles/cm3...