BACKGROUND The maximum recommended level of microbial contamination of water from dental unit waterlines (DUWL) is 200 colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL). This article addresses the importance of water selection in achieving that standard. METHODS Microbial contamination in water samples from 75 new dental units, with a closed-circuit water system, were compared using combinations o...

The hydrated dielectron is a highly correlated, two-electron, solvent-supported state consisting of two spin-paired electrons confined to a single cavity in liquid water. Although dielectrons have been predicted to exist theoretically and have been used to explain the lack of ionic strength effect in the bimolecular reaction kinetics of hydrated electrons, they have not yet been observed direct...

Background.  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID) is associated with the sharing of injection paraphernalia. People who inject drugs often "disinfect" used syringes with household products when new syringes are unavailable. We assessed the effectiveness of these products in disinfecting HCV-contaminated syringes. Methods.  A genotype-2a reporter virus assay ...

Concerns have been raised regarding the availability of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during an influenza pandemic. One possible strategy to mitigate a respirator shortage is to reuse FFRs following a biological decontamination process to render infectious material on the FFR inactive. However, little data exis...

BACKGROUND C. difficle spores in the environment of patients with C. difficile associated disease (CDAD) are difficult to eliminate. Bleach (5000 ppm) has been advocated as an effective disinfectant for the environmental surfaces of patients with CDAD. Few alternatives to bleach for non-outbreak conditions have been evaluated in controlled healthcare studies. METHODS This study was a prospect...

AIM To develop and evaluate a reproducible intrinsic discolouration model in vitro, based on tea, which would allow the effectiveness of bleaching to be evaluated. METHOD The crown portions of extracted human third molars were sectioned bucco-lingually in half. Colour assessments were made at baseline, post staining and post whitening using a standard clinical shade guide (SG), a shade vision...