Dental unit water line testing for microbial contamination is a major issue in dentistry; several outbreaks have occurred due to the failure of dental offices to effectively test and remediate their dental unit water lines. These outbreaks pose a potentially significant risk to children and immunocompromised patients. Flow Cytometry offers an alternative to culture based methods for counting bacteria that offers a rapid and straightforward solution to enhance health outcomes in dental offices and improve upon current paradigms. Culture based assays, such as R2A, which is the current standard for dental unit waterline testing are inherently limited as only a portion of microorganisms utilize the nutrients and are recovered on agar media. Flow cytometry is a well-established technology that can be adapted to enhance testing speed and sensitivity outcomes. Research demonstrates that FCM methods shorten the length of time between testing and actionable results, which can support clinicians ability to limit patient exposure to potentially harmful bacteria This presentation will share the results of research comparing the current R2A standard and flow cytometry metrics are directly compared, and an empirical threshold will be presented to align results between the two technologies. Practical Implications: This presentation will show how FCM offers advantages over HPC methods for monitoring DUWL contamination that is more accurate and timely in providing water monitoring results for practitioners.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe how flow cytometry (FCM) technology works, and how it differs from other methods for measuring micro-organisms in water.
2. Describe the different measures provided by FCM and their significance in evaluating the microbiological quality of dental procedural water.
3. Describe how FCM can potentially augment or replace culture methods for microbiological enumeration in dental procedural water.

Steps to Complete Course:

1. Click on On-Demand Recording below and watch the video
2. Complete the Assessment (requires a passing score of 70%)
3. Complete the Evaluation 
   • Once you complete the Evaluation, you can find your CE Certificate under MY ACCOUNT > MY CERTIFICATES