Dentists use oral isolation devices to reduce aerosols during dental procedures

Throughout the Corona Virus Pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dane County Public Health and the Wisconsin Dental Association have come to the conclusion that dental offices are essential for the populations overall health.

However, we believe it's important to understand that not all dental offices are providing the highest level of safety precautions necessary to keep their patients and team safe. Building No Fear Dentistry on honesty, we are open about all the safety measures we are taking and want to educate dental patients on what's right.

One of the biggest issues in a dental office that goes unnoticed is the use of devices such as the high-speed handpiece and ultrasonic scaler that produce aerosols from the patients mouth. While there's little to no harm for the patient receiving care, the aerosols can spread bacteria, viruses, blood and saliva to those in the operatory area if advanced safety measures are not being taken.

To protect our team and patients, we use an advanced oral isolation suction device, known as an IsoLite, to prevent the spray of aerosols. As you can see from the video on the right, the use of dental instruments without proper suction produces a large amount of aerosols.

Now it's time to compare! As you can see in the second video, the use of the IsoLite is highly more effective in reducing said aerosols. In turn we are better able to protect our team and patients from unnecessary exposure to airborne pathogens and the Corona Virus.

While we thought the videos above were a good visual representation of the aerosol 'spray' that occurs when using dental instruments, we were enticed to learn even more about this matter.

Scientific Study on aerosol bacteria

We found several scientific studies that show the IsoLite system can reduce the amount of aerosols by up to 65%.

To the left you can see the amount of aerosols picked up during a study comparing the use of a High Volume Evacuator, Rubber Dam with HVE, and the IsoLite.

The answer seems clear to us on what we would prefer to use.

Now that you've seen the difference for yourself what would you want your dentist to use?