2015 Volume 56 Issue 4 Pages 399-405
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bactericidal effects of generating active oxygen species (O*) and ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths in a sterilization system utilizing ultraviolet irradiation. After planting Escherichia coli (E. coli) or Candida albicans (C. albicans) on rubber cups that are often used for professional mechanical tooth cleaning, sterilization using O*, UV, or O*+UV was performed for 5 or 25 min. We evaluated the residual numbers of E. coli or C. albicans on the sterilized rubber cups using the 10-times dilution method or the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) method. The bactericidal effects of O*, UV, and O*+UV were then compared with the results in a control group (no O* or UV). The results showed that among all 4 methods, O*+UV had the most powerful bactericidal effects on E. coli and C. albicans, followed by UV and then O*. Moreover, when the bactericidal effects of O*+UV were compared with those of UV, the addition of O* was significant. These findings indicated that the bactericidal effects of generating O* and UV in a sterilization system using ultraviolet irradiation could be useful for the sterilization of dental materials that are heat-labile and that would be destroyed by autoclaving. Nihon Shishubyo Gakkai Kaishi (J Jpn Soc Periodontol) 56(4)：399-405, 2014.
