Importance of Dental Unit Water
Attached is a text file is with references (some with abstracts) about Sterilox (superoxide water). Gary at PERF has been looking at this water as an irrigant. *****INTERNATIONAL DENTAL JOURNAL***** (REFERENCE 1 OF 6) 98452141 Pankhurst CL, Johnson NW, Woods RG Microbial contamination of dental unit waterlines: the scientific argument. In: Int Dent J (1998 Aug) 48(4):359-68 The quality of dental unit water is of considerable importance since patients and dental staff are regularly exposed to water and aerosols generated from the dental unit. The unique feature of dental chair water lines is the capacity for rapid development of a biofilm on the dental water supply lines combined with the generation of potentially contaminated aerosols. The biofilm, which is derived from bacteria in the incoming water and is intrinsically resistant to most biocides, then becomes the primary reservoir for continued contamination of the system. Dental water may become heavily contaminated with opportunistic respiratory pathogens such as Legionella and Mycobacterium spp. The significance of such exposure to patients and the dental team is discussed. There is at the present time, no evidence of a widespread public health problem from exposure to dental unit water. Nevertheless, the goal of infection control is to minimise the risk from exposure to potential pathogens and to create a safe working environment in which to treat patients. This paper evaluates the range of currently available infection control methods and prevention strategies which are designed to reduce the impact of the biofilm on dental water contamination, and are suitable for use in general practice. Bacterial load in dental unit water can be kept at or below recommended guidelines for drinking water (less than 200 colony forming units/ml) using a combination of readily available measures and strict adherence to maintenance protocols. Sterile water should be employed for all surgical treatments. Institutional address: King's College Dental Institute London UK. *****INTERSCI CONF ANTIMICROB AGENTS CHEMOTHER***** (REFERENCE 2 OF 6) 20711169 Shetty N, Srinivasan S, Holton J, Ridgway GL, Selkon JB Evaluation of microbicidal activity of a new disinfectant, Sterilox, against vegetative bacteria, mycobacterium species, spores, candida albicans, and viruses. In: Intersci Conf Antimicrob Agents Chemother (1998 Sep) 38:542 (abstract no. K-138) The microbicidal activity of a new disinfectant, Sterilox, a super- oxidised water, containing a mixture of oxidising substances, was tested against vegetative bacteria: H. pylori, Escherichia coli, vancomycin resistant Enterococcus species, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; spores of Clostridium difficile and Bacillus subtilis var niger; Mycobacterium species: M. tuberculosis, M. chelonei, M. xenopi, M. avium and M. smegmatis; Candida albicans; viruses: HIV, poliomyelitis virus type 2 and duck embryo hepatitis B virus. Disinfectant evaluation was done by surface / suspension tests and with membrane filters. All tests were done in duplicate with and without added horse serum (HS) at 1% and 5% v/v. Distilled water, disinfectant inactivator, 0.35% peracetic acid (Nu-Cidex) and 2% glutaraldehyde were among the controls included. Sterilox:spore suspension (9:1 v/v) achieved a >5log10 kill with 5% HS in 2 minutes against the vegetative bacteria and Mycobacterium species. Sporicidal activity was markedly diminished in the presence of 5% HS. Increasing the Sterilox:spore suspension ratio to 19:1, achieved >5log10 kill in the presence of 1% HS. Sterilox:spore suspension (9:1) achieved the above kill effect of B. subtilis var niger in the presence of 1% HS. Sterilox was virucidal in 2 minutes in the presence of 1% HS. Sterilox may be considered an effective alternative in endoscopy units, as it is not corrosive to metal and non-toxic to biological tissues. Institutional address: Department of Clinical Microbiology University College London Hospital UK. *****JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION***** (REFERENCE 3 OF 6) 99162958 Shetty N, Srinivasan S, Holton J, Ridgway GL Evaluation of microbicidal activity of a new disinfectant: Sterilox 2500 against Clostridium difficile spores, Helicobacter pylori, vancomycin resistant Enterococcus species, Candida albicans and several Mycobacterium species. In: J Hosp Infect (1999 Feb) 41(2):101-5 The microbicidal activity of a new disinfectant Sterilox, a super- oxidized water, containing a mixture of oxidizing substances, was tested against Clostridium difficile spores, Helicobacter pylori, vancomycin resistant Enterococcus species, Candida albicans and several Mycobacterium species using membrane filters. All tests were performed in duplicate with and without added horse serum at 1% and 5% v/v. Distilled water, 0.35% peracetic acid (Nu-Cidex) and 2% glutaraldehyde were included as controls. Sterilox: spore suspension (9:1 v/v) achieved log10 kill of > 5 with 5% horse serum in 2 min against H. pylori, vancomycin resistant Enterococcus species, C. albicans and four atypical Mycobacterium species: M. avium, M. chelonei, M. xenopi and M. smegmatis. Sporicidal activity of Sterilox against Clostridium difficile was markedly diminished in the presence of 5% horse serum. Sterilox may be an effective alternative in endoscopy units, as it is a potent microbicidal agent and the manufacturer claims it is not corrosive to metal and is nontoxic to biological tissues. (REFERENCE 4 OF 6) 99135125 Selkon JB, Babb JR, Morris R Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of a new super-oxidized water, Sterilox, for the disinfection of endoscopes. In: J Hosp Infect (1999 Jan) 41(1):59-70 ISSN: 0195-6701 The antimicrobial activity of a new super-oxidized water, Sterilox, has been tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, Mycobacterium chelonae, Escherichia coli (including type 0157), Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis var niger spores, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, poliovirus type 2 and human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1. Under clean conditions, freshly generated Sterilox was found to be highly active against all these micro-organisms giving a 5 log10 (99.999%) or greater reduction in two minutes or less. Institutional address: Department of Microbiology George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust Nuneaton. (REFERENCE 5 OF 6) 97034893 Tanaka H, Hirakata Y, Kaku M, Yoshida R, Takemura H, Mizukane R, Ishida K, Tomono K, Koga H, Kohno S, Kamihira S Antimicrobial activity of superoxidized water. We tested the antimicrobial activity of superoxidized water against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia. The number of bacteria was reduced below detection limit following incubation in superoxidized water for 10 s. The bactericidal activity of superoxidized water was similar to that of 80% ethanol, but superior to that of 0.1% chlorhexidine and 0.02% povidone iodine. We conclude that superoxidized water is a low cost but powerful disinfectant. Institutional address: Department of Laboratory Medicine Nagasaki University School of Medicine Japan. *****SCIENCE PROGRESS***** (REFERENCE 6 OF 6) 98110858 Maillard JY, Russell AD Viricidal activity and mechanisms of action of biocides. In: Sci Prog (1997) 80 ( Pt 4):287-315 Institutional address: University of Wales Cardiff.