Method: One sonic (AIR) and two ultrasonic devices (TIG and VEC) were used by a trained operator to remove artificial biofilm from 168 plastic teeth in a dummy head. During instrumentation for 120s a newly developed cannula (PS) and a standard cannula (STS) versus a conventional saliva ejector (CDS) were used with a high-speed evacuation system. The effectivity of biofilm removal and aerosol contamination were assessed.
Result: The effectiveness of biofilm removal with the use of AIR (8.89±10.92%) and TIG (8.72±12.02%) was similar (p=0.707). VEC leaves the largest undisrupted area of biofilm (18.75±18.07%) (p<0.001). The size of the aerosol contaminated area was significantly different for AIR (5.48%) versus TIG (0.63%) or VEC (0.27%) (p<0.001). The combination of high-flow evacuation with cannula STS (0.09%) and PS (0.29%) reduces the splatter almost equally (p=0.023) compared to the less effective saliva ejector CDS (1.01%) (p<0.001).
Conclusion: While all tested powered devices showed high effectiveness for biofilm removal, an undesirable generation of potentially infectious aerosols had been seen in all cases as well. The sonic scaler AIR produced significantly more aerosol compared to the ultrasonic device VEC with less biofilm removal. Only high-volume evacuations with adequately calibrated cannula (STS, PS) were capable of significantly reducing the amount of aerosol contamination.