Managing biofilm

The association between dental unit waterlines (DUWL) and bacterial biofilms is well documented. A recent field study has illustrated how practices can deal with the presence of biofilm and how by the effective management of microbial load in DUWL, practices can more effectively adhere to their compliance obligations.

Dental unit water lines are an integral part of dental treatment systems and previous studies have evaluated the microbiological quality of water obtained from DUWL systemsindicating that high levels of bacteria can be present in the water delivered from the unit to the patient’s mouth.

High bacteria levels can be a result of several factors including poor feed water quality or the presence of established biofilm, that could support pathogenic species, constituting a source of potential infection to both patients and dental staff (via aerosol inhalation, ingestion or surgical site infection).

In aqueous environments, biofilms form when individual planktonic (free floating) bacteria adhere to a surface such as the wall of a tube. In DUWL tubing the water flow rate is low and the tube bore is small (typically 2-5mm), providing ideal conditions for the formation of biofilm.