The News

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DENTAL UNIT WATERLINES Essential to practice, dental unit water is used for a variety of functions, ranging from irrigating surgical sites to providing lavage during restorative procedures. More than five decades have passed since the scientific literature first reported that tubing delivering water to dental devices has a strong tendency to develop […]

Waterlines in Dental Offices: An Infection Waiting to Happen Robert W. Hasel, DDS DISCLOSURES August 23, 2012 Pneumonia Associated With a Dental Unit Waterline Ricci ML, Fontana S, Pinci F, et al Lancet. 2012;379:684 Death From Legionnaires Disease Acquired in a Dental Office A recent article published in The Lancet highlights a very serious problem that dentistry […]

Science in the News Transmission of Legionnaires’ Disease Traced to Contaminated Dental Unit Waterline March 01, 2012 In a recent case report in The Lancet, an 82-year-old Italian woman’s death from Legionnaires’ disease was attributed to infection with Legionella bacteria from a contaminated dental unit waterline.1 The case is likely the first documented incidence of Legionnaires’ […]