Risk of infection with COVID-19 in dentists, innovative and safe solution centralized aerosol aspiration

Risk of infection with COVID-19 in dentists

All dentists have now recognized the danger of possible infection with Coronavirus in the studio, with the awareness that they can not work safely even wearing all PPE protection from splashes and extra oral aerosols. Obviously, it is not possible to keep the dental office closed, so it is necessary to have adequate protection and continue to operate.

Already in April in full pandemic from covid-19 we had addressed this problem, proposing a range of technical solutions and products developed specifically to aspirate the potentially infected aerosol and drastically reduce this risk. In recent months there have been several studies worldwide on the danger of aerosol and despite the Coronavirus is a new virus, the mode of dissemination in the studio is always the same, often shared with other diseases : the aerosol that is generated very often in dental sessions, consisting of much smaller and lighter droplets.

Droplets and aerosols are contagion carrier and aspiration target

This Droplet being very volatile can remain suspended in the air, depositing on surfaces also very far from the area in which they are produced and increasing the risk infected by Covid-19 or coronavirus. In practice, the aerosol is produced with the drill, with the ultrasonic scaler for oral hygiene and with the air/water syringe. Moreover, often the maneuvers necessary for the execution of endoral radiographs cause cough, the prints for the realization of prosthetic products are detected in direct contact with the oral mucosa. So we can say that most operating procedures expose to risks of coronavirus infection for dentists and patients.

A Centralized extraction of aerosol and volatile droplets

Given the previous important technical premises, in this article we address a new technological solution developed by technicians to definitively solve the problems related to viral spread in dental environments but not only, greatly improving the air quality in the working areas: the central aspiration of the aerosol, composed of fundamental elements sized according to the specific characteristics of the installation environments:

– Suction arm installed on the wall or ceiling, with a length of up to 2.6 m, positioned so that the hood as always happens in the Airsafe™ systems should not be placed too close to the patient
– Network of pipes for connecting the suction arms to the external suction unit which, thanks to its compact dimensions, can be installed on balconies, cables or confined spaces.
– VSF external suction and filtration unit designed with Patented Airsafe technology™
– Digital control unit of the system, composed of a touch panel of the latest generation, can be positioned on the wall inside the doctor’s office

The advantages of having a centralized aspiration of dental or medical aerosol are many:

• Safety at the highest level, the aspirated air is conveyed outside, in this way you guarantee a replacement with outdoor air often not present in the studios
• No floor space, arms when not in use can be folded to ceiling or wall
• The external suction unit guarantees low noise level inside the premises and high safety during system maintenance
• Increased flexibility of use, the system can be designed from a single unit to systems that connect many units to a single external extractor

The touch panel allows the system supervisor to monitor the status of the aspiration, the clogging of the filters and all the accessories present such as temperature probes or air quality in the studies.

Thanks to the latest generation of 3D design, technicians are able to size the system to the smallest details together with the customer, so that the assembly is simple and fast.

Photographs courtesy of studio Dr. Piero Barbero in Torino, one of the very first Italian professionals to equip itself with an aerosol suction system for the safety of operators and patients.