Dental unit waterlines disinfection using hypochlorous acid-based disinfectant

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the efficacy of a new disinfectant to disinfect the dental unit waterlines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: New dental unit waterlines were installed in 13 dental chairs, and biofilm was allowed to grow for 10 days. Disinfection treatment procedure was carried out in the 12 units, and one unit was left untreated. The dental unit waterlines were removed and analyzed using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) (TESCAN VEGA3 SBU). RESULT: On examination, SEM images showed that there was no slime layer or bacterial cells seen in any of the 12 cut sections obtained from the treated dental waterlines which mean that there was no evident of biofilm formation. Untreated dental unit waterlines showed a microbial colonization with continuous filamentous organic matrix. There was significant biofilm formation in the control tube relative to the samples. CONCLUSION: The tested disinfectant was found to be effective in the removal of biofilm from the dental unit waterlines.