An experimental approach to analyze aerosol and splatter formation in a dental practice

Parisa Mirbod,Jonathan E Higham,Eileen A Haffner,Maryam Bagheri

doi:10.18409/ispiv.v1i1.188

Abstract

The flow velocity, trajectories, and size distribution of droplets produced during a dental scaling procedure using a Cavitron ultrasonic scalar (CUS) has been investigated by optical flow tracking velocimetry and shadowgraphy measurements. The droplet sizes are found to vary from 5 -500 µm; these correspond to droplet nuclei that could carry viruses. The droplet velocities also vary between 0.7 m/s and 1.3 m/s. These observations confirm the critical role of aerosols in the transmission of disease during dental procedures, providing invaluable knowledge for developing protocols and procedures to ensure the safety of both dentists and patients especially during COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

Global emergence of novel COVID-19 virus has required health care professionals to implement prescriptive adjustments
optical flow tracking velocimetry (OFTV) is a commonly used method in fluid mechanics Fullmer et al (2020) that we used it to determine the velocity fields and Lagrangian paths of droplets created by the Cavitron Select SPS Ultrasonic Scaler (CUS); Using a 1 mm laser sheet created by a 527 nm Nd-YLF (Photonics Industries, DM20-527) laser
As in a dental practice, the tip of the Slimline placed perpendicular to the front lower teeth pointing towards the gum line (Fig. 1a) for all of the experiments where the Cavitron Ultrasonic Scaler (CUS) connected to a standard water tap (i.e., 20 psi to 40 psi pressure)

Summary

Introduction

Global emergence of novel COVID-19 virus has required health care professionals to implement prescriptive adjustments. This plan is to perform experiments on the measurement of droplet sizes in the splatter created from a patient’s mouth by a Cavitron Ultrasonic Scaler (CUS) using optical flow tracking velocimetry (OFTV) and Shadowgraphy techniques.

Results

Conclusion