Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2024; 12(28): 6173-6179
Published online Oct 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i28.6173
Efficacy of graphene nanocomposites for air disinfection in dental clinics: A randomized controlled study
Ya-Qiong Ju, Xiang-Hua Yu, Jing Wu, Ying-Hui Hu, Xiang-Yong Han, Dan Fang
Ya-Qiong Ju, Xiang-Hua Yu, Ying-Hui Hu, Department of Nursing, Minhang District Dental Clinic, Shanghai 201107, China
Xiang-Hua Yu, Jing Wu, Xiang-Yong Han, Department of Medical Sciences, Minhang District Dental Clinic, Shanghai 201107, China
Dan Fang, Department of Orthopedics, Center for Spinal Minimally Invasive Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 201107, China
Co-corresponding authors: Xiang-Yong Han and Dan Fang.
Author contributions: Ju YQ contributed to study conception and design, and provision of study materials or patients; Yu XH contributed to administrative support; Wu J and Hu YH contributed to data collection and assembly; Han XY and Fang D contributed to data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript writing; all authors contributed to the final approval of the manuscript.
Supported by The Natural Science Research Project of Minhang District, No. 2021MHZ070.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Minhang District Dental Clinic.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: All data are provided in this study, and raw data can be obtained from the corresponding author.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement- checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: Https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dan Fang, MD, Nurse, Department of Orthopedics, Center for Spinal Minimally Invasive Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 1111 Xianxia Road, Shanghai 201107, China. 363909916@qq.com
Received: May 15, 2024
Revised: July 9, 2024
Accepted: July 24, 2024
Published online: October 6, 2024
Processing time: 89 Days and 17.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Aerosols containing disease-causing microorganisms are produced during oral diagnosis and treatment can cause secondary contamination.

AIM

To investigate the use of graphene material for air disinfection in dental clinics by leveraging its adsorption and antibacterial properties.

METHODS

Patients who received ultrasonic cleaning at our hospital from April 2023 to April 2024. They were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 20 each): Graphene nanocomposite material suction group (Group A), ordinary filter suction group (Group B), and no air suction device group (Group C). The air quality and air colony count in the clinic rooms were assessed before, during, and after the procedure. Additionally, bacterial colony counts were obtained from the air outlets of the suction devices and the filter screens in Groups A and B.

RESULTS

Before ultrasonic cleaning, no significant differences in air quality PM2.5 and colony counts were observed among the three groups. However, significant differences in air quality PM2.5 and colony counts were noted among the three groups during ultrasonic cleaning and after ultrasonic treatment. Additionally, the number of colonies on the exhaust port of the suction device and the surface of the filter were significantly lower in Group A than in Group B (P = 0.000 and P = 0.000, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Graphene nanocomposites can effectively sterilize the air in dental clinics by exerting their antimicrobial effects and may be used to reduce secondary pollution.

Keywords: Graphene, Nanocomposites, Oral clinic, Air disinfection, Secondary contamination

Core Tip: Our proposed method offers efficient antimicrobial performance without secondary pollution. We have employed graphene nanocomposites to enhance their adsorption and antibacterial properties through a modified approach to study their impact on air disinfection and purification in dental clinics.