Pandemic Preparedness and Response: A Foldable Tent to Safely Remove Contaminated Dental Aerosols—Clinical Study and Patient Experience

Abstract

The D-DART (Droplet and Aerosol Reducing Tent) is a foldable design that can be attached to the dental chair to prevent the spread of contaminated dental aerosols. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the D-DART to reduce spread of aerosols generated during dental treatment. Thirty-two patients (sixteen per group) undergoing deep ultrasonic scaling were recruited and randomly allocated to groups D-DART or Control (no D-DART). After 20 min from the start of the treatment, the clinician’s face shield and dental chair light were swabbed and the viable microbial load was quantified (ATP bioluminescence analysis, blinded operator). Statistical analyses were performed with Tukey’s Honest Test with a level of significance pre-set at 5%. There were significant increases in ATP values obtained from the operator’s face shield and dental chair light for the Control compared with baseline (31.3 ± 8.5 and fold increase). There was no significant change in microbial load when the D-DART was used compared with baseline (1.5 ± 0.4 fold increase). The D-DART contained and prevented the spread of aerosols generated during deep scaling procedures.