Water contamination of odontological equipment by Pseudomonas sp.

Abstract

The contamination of the water used in odontological units represents a problem to be solved, mainly because of the risk of transmitting infectious and contagious diseases. Pseudomonas are opportunistic and ubiquitous pathogens. As they are constant agents of hospital infections, they may be associated with endodontic infections or with the periodontal illness in Odontology. This work describes the occurrence of Pseudomonas sp. in the water of reservoirs in odontological equipments. Samples of water were collected in 33 equipments of private dentist´s offices, of the public service and in a school of Odontology. After sowing water in pipes carrying lauryl tryptose broth and incubation to 37°C, the isolation and the identification of Pseudomonas sp. were performed in the pipes presenting turbidness and greenish pigment; the antibiogram followed. Pseudomonas sp. was isolated in 21,2% of the collected samples. The strains were resistant to Penicillin G, oxacillin, erythromycin and cephalotin. The obtained results pointed out that the water in the reservoirs of the equipments is the probable source of infections by Pseudomonas sp. in dentist´s offices.