| Issue |
E3S Web of Conf.
Volume 396, 2023
The 11th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation & Energy Conservation in Buildings (IAQVEC2023)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 02022 | |
| Number of page(s) | 7 | |
| Section | Ventilation and Airflow in Buildings | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202339602022 | |
| Published online | 16 June 2023 | |
Investigation of the Effectiveness of Infection Control Measures in the Dental Office
1 Kajima Technical Research Institute, 2-19-1, Tobitakyu, Chofu city, Tokyo, Japan
2 Kajima Technical Research Institute Singapore, 80 Marine Parade Road, #08-08 Parkway Parade, Singapore 449269, Singapore
3 Tokyo Giken Inc., 1-25-13, Tamadutsumi, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
4 The Nippon Dental University, 1-9-20, Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Aerosol transmission is an important mode of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Dentists and dental hygienists, who provide medical treatment and care in the oral cavity, may be exposed to expiratory aerosols of asymptomatic infected persons. To compare the effectiveness of devices in reducing the risk of transmission to dentists and dental hygienists, we conducted experiments in a dental treatment room at Nippon Dental University. The measurements were carried out in five cases: a) the basic case (conventional air conditioning), b) a case with the circulator placed in the center of the room and operated in high air flow mode, c) a case with a circulator placed behind the patient and operated in low air flow mode, d) a case with the circulator blowing from inside to outside, e) a case using an extraoral vacuum, and f) a case with a portable neck fan hanging on the dentist manikin. The results indicated that all measures were effective in reducing the risk of infection, and case e showed the highest reduction in aerosol concentration. However, because extraoral vacuums are expensive, it is important to reduce the risk as much as possible by selecting circulators or portable neck fans according to the budget of each hospital.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2023
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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