It may alarm you to know that the water used at many dental offices for rinsing out patient's mouths has not only been found out of compliance with EPA regulations for potable water, it has been identified as a means of tranferring oral bacteria from one patient to another.
The culprit is these centralized water systems that deliver water to the individual stations. While a patient is undergoing drilling or other dental work, bacteria from patient's mouth can be churned up into a water vapor. When the drill stops, the water pressure flow drops and reverses slightly, which pulls the vapor into the system.
Normally one would expect that chlorine added to the water system would kill the bacteria. But because the dental accessory units have such a low flow of water, the levels of chlorine residuals normally found in the water supply are reduced or nonexistent. The result is bacteria growth in the dental accessory unit that is not destroyed by the low levels of chlorine, thus leading to the unfortunate transfer of oral bacteria from one patient to another.
The patented solution to this problem is to use technology available from Water Energy. Instead of relying on chlorine, ozone is used as the sterilization agent. As ozone is 3,000 times more reactive as an oxidizer than chlorine, the water is cleaned thoroughly during a relatively short contact time.
Ozonated water is supplied in high enough concentrations that the bacteria biomass typically found in the accessory unit is neutralized and removed; however, the concentration is still low enough to be undetectable by the patient.
This approach is currently under reviewed by the FDA as a Class 1 medical device, and certification testing is being undertaken by the CRA. Eventually, the system will be available nationwide to provide sterilized water to dental patients.
