Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings—2003
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Slide 77: Dental Unit Water Quality
Slide Text
- Using water of uncertain quality is inconsistent with infection
control principles
- Colony counts in water from untreated systems can exceed 1,000,000
CFU/mL
CFU=colony forming unit
- Untreated dental units cannot reliably produce water that meets drinking water standards
Speaker Notes
Despite a lack of documented adverse health effects, using water of uncertain microbiological quality is inconsistent with infection control principles. Levels of contamination in water from untreated systems can exceed 1 million colony forming units per milliliter (mL) of water.
Untreated dental units cannot reliably produce water that meets drinking water standards (fewer than 500 CFU/mL of heterotrophic water bacteria). Even using source water containing ≤500 CFU/mL of bacteria (e.g., tap, distilled, or sterile water) in a self-contained system will not eliminate bacterial contamination in treatment water if biofilms in the water system are not controlled. Removal or inactivation of dental waterline biofilms requires use of chemical germicides.
Page last reviewed: September 22, 2009
Page last modified: April 26, 2005
Content source:
Division of Oral Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion
