2001 Volume 51 Issue 5 Pages 828-833
Tooth grinding, an indispensable part of dental treatment, produces a dust that contains bacteria and viruses. This dust can cause environmental pollution in the dental clinic and the dental staff are exposed to scattered dust. Therefore, it is important to remove the dust as it is created at the preparation point. In this study, we evaluated preparation of extracted upper central teeth by four dentists using a manikin, and tried to investigate the exposure of the dentist to tooth grinding dust. We examined the effect of an extra-oral vacuum aspirator and differences in three experimental positions to decrease grinding dust exposure for the dentist in the dental clinic. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. It was suggested that the extra-oral vacuum aspirator effectively achieved about 80% reduction of dust particles measuring more than 0.3 μm. It was confirmed that the most effective position of extra-oral vaccum aspirator in the three experimental position was vertical/upward 5 cm from the preparation point. Therefore, this position should be used when treating patients.