ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2023
Occurrence and prevalence of Legionella species in dental chair units in Germany with a focus on risk factors.
Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dental unit waterlines in Israel: evidence of widespread microbial contamination and a need for national regulation.Israel journal of health policy research · 2026Article
- Bacterial contamination and diversity of dental unit waterlines across dental specialties, outlets and distinct times: heterotrophic bacteria counting and sequencing analysis.Journal of oral microbiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Periodic detection and disinfection maintenance of dental unit waterlines in dental simulation head model laboratories.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Severe Legionnaires' disease.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- A review ofFrontiers in public health · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWater-bearing instruments and treatments in dental units produce aerosols originating from the dental unit waterlines (DUWLs), which are often microbially contaminated. Particularly, the presence of Legionella mainly realized as aerosols leads to a risk of infection in patients and dental staff.
methodsHere, we record the general bacteriological status of DUWLs in Germany and investigated the prevalence of Legionella spp., with a focus on identification and occurrence of distinct species considering the various aspects of dental practice such as dental chair equipment, disinfection methods, and temperatures.
resultsOut of 3789 water samples of 459 dental practices, collected in the years 2019 and 2020, 36.4% were Legionella positive with predominance of L. anisa (97.89%) identified by MALDI-TOF biotyping. L. pneumophila was detected very rarely. Risk factor analysis revealed that temperatures >20°C are a significant factor for increased Legionella colonization.
conclusionIn order to minimize the risk of infection, routine monitoring of the water quality in dental chair units is recommended with regard to general microbiological loads and to the presence of Legionella as opportunistic pathogen as well as the regular application of routine disinfection procedures.
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Registered trials
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