Evaluation of Hand Hygiene Agents in Dentistry for Antimicrobial Effectiveness

As waterless hand hygiene products began to be widespread accepted within the medical community in recent years, introducing and evaluating an alcohol-based waterless agent using in dentistry was considered to be a worthwhile undertaking. The waterless agent could shorten times and the number of steps while maintaining appropriate antisepsis. The importance of efficacy in choosing right hand hygiene product is recommended in new CDC guideline 2002 on hand hygiene. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of traditional hand soap and others antiseptics agents used in dentistry comparing with no hand hygiene (control) Materials and Method: The study was conducted among 90 healthy volunteers from dental students, dental hygiene students and faculties at University of Detroit Mercy, School of dentistry. The standard test method for evaluation of the effectiveness of health care professional handwash formulations was used. Subjects were divided to 3 groups, using various hand hygiene products (Nonantiseptics Soap, Parachlorometaxylenol-PCMX, and Waterless Alcohol-Based Spray) at wash times of 30 seconds. (No hand hygiene procedure as control in every group) The samples were collected from middle of palm, between fingers and fingertips. They were cultured in blood agar at 37 °C for 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours respectively. Result: The use of liquid preparations-PCMX and waterless alcohol based spray reduced and eliminated bacterial contamination. There was no difference in bacterial activity between PCMX and Waterless Alcohol-Based spray at any culture time,while there was bacterial activity found at 48 and 72 hours for nonantiseptics soap. Conclusion: According to this study, hand washing with traditional soap and water can reduce some transient bacterial contamination but not eliminate. The Waterless Alcohol-Based Spray can be used as reliable antiseptic agent in dental clinics, owing to its favorable antiseptic effect and convenience.