MICROBIAL DIVERSITY IN DENTAL UNIT WATERLINES

Dental health care providers and patients are exposed duringongoing work to contamination by the water used in the dentalunits, due to accidental swallowing or aspiration of thesprays generated by the high-speed handpiece and the threewaysyringe. This study evaluated the quality of water indental units in the public dental care system of Maceio,Alagoas, Brazil, by conducting analyses of contamination bytotal coliforms, E.Coli, heterotrophic bacteria and filamentousfungi. We collected 200 mL of water at 5 sites in 6 dentaloffices of the Department of Health located in different partsof the city. A total 212 isolates and 16 genera of filamentousfungi were identified in the water collected from the dentalunits. Total coliforms indicated that the water used in dentalunits was not appropriate for human consumption. The highlevels of contamination found in this study showed that waterwas a potential source of cross-infection...(AU) Durante a rotina de trabalho, a equipe odontologica e ospacientes ficam expostos a possivel contaminacao pela agua utilizadanas unidades dentais, devido a ingestao acidental da aguaou pela aspiracao dos sprays gerados pela caneta de alta rotacaoe seringa triplice. Este estudo avaliou a qualidade da agua usadaem consultorios odontologicos da rede publica estadual deMaceio, Alagoas, Brasil, atraves da analise de contaminacao porcoliformes totais e E.coli, bacterias heterotroficas e fungos filamentosos.Foram coletados 200 mL de agua, em cinco pontos deseis consultorios odontologicos pertencentes a Secretaria Estadualde Saude, localizados em diferentes bairros da cidade. Umtotal de 212 isolados e 16 generos de fungos filamentosos foramidentificados. A presenca de coliformes totais indicou que a aguautilizada nas unidades dentais era impropria para consumohumano. O alto indice de contaminacao mostrou que as aguasestudadas eram uma fonte potencial de infeccoes cruzadas...(AU)