Evaluation of microbiological contamination in the clinics of the faculty of dentistry of the university of Cuenca

Objective: To determine the bacterial load in the dental units of the undergraduate clinics and the radiology area of the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Cuenca after the disinfection protocol used by the cleaning staff.

Introduction: Dentistry is considered a high-risk profession for that reason people who are part of the work team and the patients are exposed to pathogenic microorganisms. For this reason, it is too important and necessary to establish asepsis, antisepsis and biosafety protocols in order to reduce and prevent contamination and proliferation.

Materials and methods: A total number of 13 different surfaces were evaluated for the collection of the sample, the sterile Stuart transport medium was used to subsequently seed it in the blood agar media.

Results: At 48 hours there was no growth of colonies, however at 96 hours the following colonies were obtained: Adult clinic (Bacillus spp: 4000 CFU/ML), child clinic (Bacillus spp: 2000 CFU/ML, Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus: 1000 UFC/ML) and radiology (Bacillus spp: 1000 CFU/ML).

Conclusions: The cleaning and disinfection protocols used in the clinics and radiology service of the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Cuenca are not enough to kill microorganisms completely. Although the CFUs were relatively lower compared to other studies, it is still a predisposing factor for infections in patients, operators, teachers and even cleaning staff.