IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i7p2348-d339055.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dental Unit Waterlines in Quito and Caracas Contaminated with Nontuberculous Mycobacteria: A Potential Health Risk in Dental Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Orlando J. Castellano Realpe

    (Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Central del Ecuador, 170521 Quito, Ecuador
    The three authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Johanna C. Gutiérrez

    (Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Bioanálisis, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1053 Caracas, Venezuela
    Instituto de Biomedicina “Dr. Jacinto Convit”, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1010 Caracas, Venezuela
    The three authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Deisy A. Sierra

    (Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Bioanálisis, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1053 Caracas, Venezuela
    Instituto de Biomedicina “Dr. Jacinto Convit”, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1010 Caracas, Venezuela
    The three authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Lourdes A. Pazmiño Martínez

    (Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Central del Ecuador, 170521 Quito, Ecuador)

  • Yrneh Y. Prado Palacios

    (Instituto de Biomedicina “Dr. Jacinto Convit”, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1010 Caracas, Venezuela)

  • Gustavo Echeverría

    (Instituto de Investigación en Salud Pública y Zoonosis CIZ, Universidad Central del Ecuador, 170521 Quito, Ecuador)

  • Jacobus H. de Waard

    (Instituto de Biomedicina “Dr. Jacinto Convit”, Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1010 Caracas, Venezuela
    One Health Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad De Las Américas, 170504 Quito, Ecuador)

Abstract

Three cases of severe odontogenic infections due to nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in Venezuela that were directly associated with dental procedures and the finding of dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) in dental offices that were colonized with mycobacteria species was the reason for assessing the water quality of DUWLs in dental offices in two capital cities in South America, namely, Quito and Caracas. The main water supplies and the water from 143 DUWLs in both cities were sampled and especially checked for contamination with NTM. To measure the overall bacteriological quality of the water also the presence of heterotrophic bacteria, coliform bacteria, and Pseudomonas was determined. Results showed that respectively 3% and 56% of the DUWLs in Quito and Caracas yielded NTM species (up to 1000 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL). Furthermore, high and unacceptable total viable counts of heterotrophic bacteria and/or coliform bacteria and Pseudomonas were detected in 73% of the samples. We conclude that, in both cities, the water in the majority of DUWLs was contaminated with NTM and other potential pathogens, presenting a risk to human health. The detection of NTM in DUWL water with acceptable heterotrophic bacteria counts shows the need to include NTM in water quality testing. Mycobacteria are more resistant to disinfection procedures than other types of vegetative bacteria, and most testing protocols for DUWLs do not assess mycobacteria and thus do not guarantee risk-free water.

Suggested Citation

  • Orlando J. Castellano Realpe & Johanna C. Gutiérrez & Deisy A. Sierra & Lourdes A. Pazmiño Martínez & Yrneh Y. Prado Palacios & Gustavo Echeverría & Jacobus H. de Waard, 2020. "Dental Unit Waterlines in Quito and Caracas Contaminated with Nontuberculous Mycobacteria: A Potential Health Risk in Dental Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2348-:d:339055
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2348/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2348/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jessica Lizzadro & Marta Mazzotta & Luna Girolamini & Ada Dormi & Tiziana Pellati & Sandra Cristino, 2019. "Comparison between Two Types of Dental Unit Waterlines: How Evaluation of Microbiological Contamination Can Support Risk Containment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Erica Leoni & Laura Dallolio & Francesca Stagni & Tiziana Sanna & Giovanni D'Alessandro & Gabriela Piana, 2015. "Impact of a Risk Management Plan on Legionella Contamination of Dental Unit Water," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Anna Maria Spagnolo & Marina Sartini & David Di Cave & Beatrice Casini & Benedetta Tuvo & Maria Luisa Cristina, 2019. "Evaluation of Microbiological and Free-Living Protozoa Contamination in Dental Unit Waterlines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-11, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luca Fiorillo & Aida Meto & Francesca Cicciù & Rosa De Stefano, 2021. "An Eventual Sars-CoV-2 Infection Prevention Protocol in the Medical Setting and Dental Office," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-6, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Maria Spagnolo & Marina Sartini & David Di Cave & Beatrice Casini & Benedetta Tuvo & Maria Luisa Cristina, 2019. "Evaluation of Microbiological and Free-Living Protozoa Contamination in Dental Unit Waterlines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-11, July.
    2. Savina Ditommaso & Monica Giacomuzzi & Elisa Ricciardi & Carla M. Zotti, 2016. "Efficacy of a Low Dose of Hydrogen Peroxide (Peroxy Ag + ) for Continuous Treatment of Dental Unit Water Lines: Challenge Test with Legionella pneumophila Serogroup 1 in a Simulated Dental Unit Waterl," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Samuel Dorevitch, 2015. "Health Effects of Waterborne Contaminants: A Focus on Emerging Concerns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-3, October.
    4. Alexandre Baudet & Julie Lizon & Jean-Marc Martrette & Frédéric Camelot & Arnaud Florentin & Céline Clément, 2020. "Efficacy of BRS ® and Alpron ® /Bilpron ® Disinfectants for Dental Unit Waterlines: A Six-Year Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-9, April.
    5. Erica Leoni & Federica Catalani & Sofia Marini & Laura Dallolio, 2018. "Legionellosis Associated with Recreational Waters: A Systematic Review of Cases and Outbreaks in Swimming Pools, Spa Pools, and Similar Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Alexandre Baudet & Julie Lizon & Jean-Marc Martrette & Frédéric Camelot & Arnaud Florentin & Céline Clément, 2019. "Dental Unit Waterlines: A Survey of Practices in Eastern France," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-8, November.
    7. Maria Antoniadou & Anestis Intzes & Christos Kladouchas & Iliana Christou & Stavroula Chatzigeorgiou & Martha Plexida & Valantis Stefanidakis & Ioannis Tzoutzas, 2023. "Factors Affecting Water Quality and Sustainability in Dental Practices in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Savina Ditommaso & Monica Giacomuzzi & Elisa Ricciardi & Carla M. Zotti, 2016. "Cultural and Molecular Evidence of Legionella spp. Colonization in Dental Unit Waterlines: Which Is the Best Method for Risk Assessment?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-10, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2348-:d:339055. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.