Research Projects

Control of microbial transmission is crucial in order to prevent spreading of contagious diseases. The risk of transmission is very high in dental environment as any instrument or anybody can become the host of pathogens. The dental airotors/handpieces regularly used in dental procedures are one of the primary sources of such contamination. The airotors are rotary instrument which requires frequent cooling. The coolant sprayed mixes with mucosalivery fluids and are ejected back from oral cavity of the patients. These sprayed droplets contribute to the formation of bio-aerosols in dental healthcare environment. Therefore, it is important to control the spray characteristics to minimize the formation of aerosols in dental healthcare settings. However, the control of spray is a challenge in dental healthcare settings and dental care facilities are still not prepared for such challenges. Sprays employed in industrial applications such as coatings, printings, pharmaceuticals, combustion etc. have been widely studied over the years. However, the sprays employed in healthcare setting have not been studied in detail so far. In this project, the main objectives is are : • Study the impact of dental spray on a biofilm and determine the critical droplet sizes and velocities to minimize the formation of bio-aerosols • To design a novel coolant spray system for air-driven dental airotors to minimize the formation and spreading of aerosols in dental procedures • To examine the performance of the designed nozzle to optimize the cooling efficiency The main experiments will be carried out to analyse the spray system employed in cooling of dental airotors and define the spray characteristics. A new novel swirl-induced atomizer will be designed to optimize the aerosol spreading without compromising the cooling efficiency of the system. Dental health impacts the quality of life of people. Various preventive measures like sterilization, disinfection, use of protective gears, etc have been adopted to reduce contamination in dental clinics. These precautions limit the spreading of disease but cannot eliminate the transmission completely. Moreover, it is difficult to implement these preventive measures in developing countries, especially remote regions which cannot even afford the basic amenities. The design of the new novel spray system will be successfully employed in dentistry. The in-house built system will be inexpensive and can be suitably employed in resource-limited settings.