Bacterial decontamination of DUWL biofilm using oxygenal 6

The aim of this study was bacteriological assessment of the dental unit waterlines (DUWL) biofilm - concentration and composition of the aerobe and facultative anaerobe bacterial microflora, and evaluation of the influence of a disinfecting product, Oxygenal 6, on the biofilm composition. Tubing fragments were taken from 25 units twice, before and after disinfection, and bacterial suspension of the biofilm was obtained from the samples. The bacterial flora was determined with the plate culture method. Bacteria were identified with biochemical microtests: API 20E, API 20NE (bioMerieux, France) and GP2 MicroPlateTM (BIOLOG, USA). Before disinfection, the following bacteria were identified: Gram-negative bacteria - Ralstonia pickettii, Pseudomonas vesicularis, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Xanthomonas maltophilia; Gram-positive cocci - Micrococcus luteus, Micrococcus lylae, Staphylococcus cohnii, Staphylococcus lentus, Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp.; Actinomycetes - Streptomyces albus. The prevailing bacteria were: Ralstonia pickettii (78.62%), found in all the units, and Sphingomonas paucimobilis (20.45%). After DUWL disinfection, Sphingomonas paucimobilis (88.79%) dominated in the biofilm, Staphylococcus spp. - 5.61% and Pseudomonas spp. - 3.74% were next most frequently occurring bacteria, and in more than a half of the biofilm samples 100% reduction of the bacterial microflora occurred. This study confirms effectiveness of Oxygenal 6 in bacterial decontamination of the DUWL biofilm.