Assessment of bacterial contamination of the external surface of anesthetic cartridges

Objective: Infection control is one of the important aspects in dentistry. Oral and maxillofacial surgery is one of the most sensitive fields in dentistry in which infection control is important; a sterile surgical set is imperative. Manufacturers only guarantee the sterility of the anesthetic not the sterility of its outer surface. They recommend alcohol to sterile the outer surface [especially the diaphragm] of the cartridge. On the other hand, studies showed contamination of external surfaces in anesthetic cartridges in various amounts. Evaluation of possible microbial contamination of anesthetic cartridge surfaces was the intent of this study

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Methods: During this descriptive experimental study, random sampling was performed and 1,200 Iranian and imported cartridges were transferred to different culture media [aerobic, anaerobic and fungal]. After 24-48 hours of incubation, samples were transferred to specific culture media. Cultured bacteria were stained, using the Gram staining method. The study was carried out in a 6- month period

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Results: We found 6.3 percent of aerobic cultures, 1.8 percent of anaerobic cultures and 0.7 percent of fungal cultures were contaminated by different types of microorganisms sampled from cartridges

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Conclusion: The contamination of cartridges is not ignorable and placing them directly in the sterile surgical set is not recommended