Oral microbes are dispersed during dental treatment and reduction methods have been proposed, but dental unit waterline (DUWL) disinfectants have received little attention; specifically, the effect on viruses has not been studied. This study aims to 1) investigate the effect of DUWL disinfectants on viral dispersion in dental bioaerosols and 2) establish a dual-tracer system using live bacteriophage and fluorescein supported by optical particle measurement. Bacteriophage MS2 was used as a viral tracer and fluorescein as a fluorescent tracer. Validation experiments were conducted to exclude interference of one tracer with the other or of DUWL disinfectants on detection methods. Simulated “saliva” containing the tracers was infused into the mouth of a dental mannequin during 10-min dental procedures with an air turbine handpiece (n = 3 replicates). Aerosols and droplets were sampled in an enclosed dental operatory using air samplers and settlement onto sterile filter papers. Bacteriophage was quantified using plaque assays and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Fluorescein was quantified fluorometrically. The effect of DUWL disinfectants on total aerosol concentration was assessed in separate experiments using an optical particle counter. DUWL disinfectants reduced bacteriophage viability, and interference between tracers was not observed. In simulated clinical procedures, the disinfectant ICX reduced bacteriophage detection substantially (P < 0.001; 2-way analysis of variance). MS2 RNA was detected in all experimental samples but not negative controls. Samples positive on RT-qPCR but not plaque assays may indicate that virions at distant sites are nonviable. Fluorescein tracer showed good agreement with the bacteriophage tracer. DUWL disinfectants designed for continuous presence in irrigants reduce the dispersion of viable virus in dental bioaerosols during simulated procedures. Their use may therefore be important for routine infection control and as a mitigation factor during infectious disease outbreaks. Future studies should explore this using a range of viruses and other microbes.

口腔微生物在牙科治疗过程中会分散，并提出了减少方法，但牙科单元水线（DUWL）消毒剂很少受到关注；具体而言，尚未研究对病毒的影响。本研究旨在 1) 研究 DUWL 消毒剂对牙科生物气溶胶中病毒扩散的影响，以及 2) 在光学粒子测量的支持下，使用活噬菌体和荧光素建立双示踪系统。噬菌体 MS2 用作病毒示踪剂，荧光素用作荧光示踪剂。进行验证实验以排除一种示踪剂与另一种示踪剂或 DUWL 消毒剂对检测方法的干扰。在 10 分钟的牙科手术过程中，使用空气涡轮机头将含有示踪剂的模拟“唾液”注入牙科人体模型的口腔中（n = 3 次重复）。使用空气采样器在封闭的牙科手术室中对气溶胶和液滴进行采样，并将其沉降到无菌滤纸上。使用噬菌斑测定和逆转录定量聚合酶链反应 (RT-qPCR) 对噬菌体进行量化。荧光素被荧光定量。使用光学粒子计数器在单独的实验中评估了 DUWL 消毒剂对总气溶胶浓度的影响。DUWL 消毒剂降低了噬菌体的活力，并且未观察到示踪剂之间的干扰。在模拟临床程序中，消毒剂 ICX 显着降低了噬菌体检测（P< 0.001; 2 因素方差分析）。在所有实验样品中检测到 MS2 RNA，但在阴性对照中未检测到。RT-qPCR 呈阳性但噬菌斑检测呈阳性的样本可能表明远处的病毒粒子无法存活。荧光素示踪剂与噬菌体示踪剂表现出良好的一致性。DUWL 消毒剂设计用于在冲洗剂中持续存在，可在模拟过程中减少活病毒在牙科生物气溶胶中的扩散。因此，它们的使用对于常规感染控制和作为传染病爆发期间的缓解因素可能很重要。未来的研究应该使用一系列病毒和其他微生物来探索这一点。