Modern Day Gadgets, are they the New Covert Reservoirs of Pathogens in Dental Settings? An in vitro Study

Introduction: Nosocomial infections are a major concern to both clinicians and health care seekers. Investigations have suggested that laptops & mobile phones may contribute to cross-contamination and can serve as vehicles for infection transmission.

Methodology: The samples were collected from 25 laptops and 25 mobile phones from dentists working in a dental college in Bangalore city. The samples were collected aseptically using sterile cotton swabs dipped in sterile saline by rotating the swabs on the keyboard surfaces of laptops and mobile phones, inoculated into Brain Heart Infusion broth, vortexed for 1 minute in Fischer Vortex Genie 2 on highest setting & streaked immediately on 5% sheep blood agar plates and were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours aerobically. The isolates were identified based on the colony morphology, colony characteristics and biochemical reactions.

Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation were done for the colony forming units and microbial organisms present in various departments.

Results: The bacterial species isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Bacillus species, Enterococci, Micrococci, Pseudomonas etc. Predominant species isolated was Staphylococcus aureus and least was Micrococci. The microbial contamination was more for the department of Orthodontics (18.08%) followed by Oral surgery (15.96%) and least was from Endodontics (14.57%).

Conclusion: Laptops and mobile phones act as vehicles for transfer of potential pathogens associated with dental hospitals. Disinfecting the hands prior to examination of patients and disinfection of laptops and mobiles with alcohol wipes should be done to prevent nosocomial infections.