ArticleFrontiers in medicine2022
CHX and a Face Shield Cannot Prevent Contamination of Surgical Masks.
Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Influencing viable oral bacteria in the patient's oral cavity and on the dentist's mask.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Risks and benefits of face masks in children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Review
- Establishment of a rapid and quantitative method for detecting the range of infection exposure in preclinical dental education.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Contamination of Dental Surgical Masks by Aerosols Generated During Different Dental Treatments.Oral health & preventive dentistry · 2024Article
- Bacterial contamination potential of personal protective equipment itself in dental aerosol-producing treatments.Odontology · 2024Review
- Aerosol-generating procedures and associated control/mitigation measures: Position paper from the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association and the American Dental Hygienists' Association.Canadian journal of dental hygiene : CJDH = Journal canadien de l'hygiene dentaire : JCHD · 2024Review
- Article
- The bacterial burden of worn face masks-observational research and literature review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Bacterial contamination on surgical masks puts a threat to medical staff and patients. The aim of the study was to investigate its contamination during dental treatments, wearing a face shield and performing a pre-procedural mouth rinsing with chlorhexidine (CHX). Methods: In this prospective, randomized study, 306 treatments were included, 141 single-tooth (restorations) and 165 total dentition treatments (preventive or periodontal supportive ultrasonic application). A total of three groups (each: Results: Chlorhexidine led to a statistically significant reduction of bacterial contamination of the surgical mask (mean: 24 CFU) in comparison with water (mean: 47 CFU) and non-rinsing (mean: 80 CFU). Furthermore, rinsing with water reduced CFU significantly in comparison with the non-rinsing group. There were no significant differences between single or total dentition treatments. Conclusion: A pre-procedural mouth rinse is useful to reduce the bacterial load of the surgical mask. However, contamination cannot be prevented completely, even by applying a face shield. In particular, during pandemic, it is important to consider that these additional protective measures are not able to completely avoid the transmission of pathogens bearing aerosols to the facial region. If antiseptic rinsing solutions are not available, rinsing with water is also useful.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.