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The United States is known throughout the world for having clean water. The water coming into the offices of dentists in this country is very clean, thanks to the efforts of the many public health officials associated with our water supply. There is a potential problem with the integrity of the water provided by dental offices that has to do with the small diameter water lines that go to the dental drills. With large diameter pipes, the bacterial film (biofilm) that is able to form on the lining of the pipes is not a significant factor due to the amount of water flowing through the pipe in comparison to the bacteria that sloughs off the biofilm into the water. In a dental office, the smaller diameter water lines mean that those same bacteria that slough off of the lining of the tubes constitute a greater percentage of the volume and therefore are much more concentrated. The American Dental Association has issued a standard that dental offices are expected to meet regarding this issue. Essentially, it involves the ability of the office to clean the water lines periodically so that the bacterial load is less than that found in the public water supply. Many products are available to do this, but the dentist must have the ability to introduce these products into the dental water lines. In order to do so, a special water bottle system is usually used that allows the introduction of bacteria killing agents on a regular basis. In our Cary dental office, we have found that use of these agents has allowed our water lines to have almost no bacterial count!
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