A prevalence of respiratory disease among dental students is unrelated to exposure to the dental clinic environment, according to a recent study by the UB School of Dental Medicine.
The study sprung from concerns that water-dispensing instruments used in dentistry may harbor harmful bacteria that could cause respiratory illness among those in frequent contact with the mist.
"The dental community first realized the potential hazards [of] dental aerosols in 1971," said Maris Ditolla, a second-year dental student who helped with the study. "The dental community has researched the topic since then, but there was an increase in interest after the TV show '20/20' did a show about the topic."
Experts in the dental community have long been aware that water delivered by dental water units frequently contains high levels of bacteria, of the same type found in tap water. The amount of bacteria, however, is often significantly higher in dental water units than water from a typical household faucet, according to the American Dental Association.
The UB study, a combined effort with researchers from the University of Southern California and Marquette University, distributed a comprehensive questionnaire to 817 dental students and residents from the three universities.
Out of those surveyed, 48 cases of respiratory problems were reported during the previous year: six cases of lung disease, 11 cases of bronchitis, 26 cases of asthma and five cases of pneumonia. According to Dr. Frank Scannapieco, senior advisor on the study and associate professor of oral biology at UB, the study revealed no direct link between clinic exposure and the illnesses.
"We found no association between a student's year in dental school, or previous exposure to dental aerosols during dental treatment as a patient, and [the] prevalence of respiratory disease," said Scannapieco.
Part of the study's conclusion stems from an analysis of each student's age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol consumption and years in the dental environment. All cases of respiratory disease were combined and subjected to multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling.
Currently, no regulations specify standards for the quality of water used by dentists in water units. Proposed federal regulations now on the table, however, would hold dentistry to the current drinking water standards used by many states and community water systems.
The study was funded through the dental school's student research group and the International Association for Dental Research. The researchers plan to publish the work as early as this spring.
