The abundance of the potential pathogen Staphylococcus hominis in the air microbiome in a dental clinic and its susceptibility to far‐UVC light

Abstract

AbstractThe dental clinic air microbiome incorporates microbes from the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract (URT). This study aimed to establish a reliable methodology for air sampling in a dental clinic setting and quantify the abundance of culturable mesophilic aerobic bacteria present in these samples using regression modeling. Staphylococcus hominis, a potentially pathogenic bacterium typically found in the human oropharynx and URT, was consistently isolated. S. hominis was the most abundant species of aerobic bacteria (22%–24%) and comprised 60%–80% of all Staphylococcus spp. The study also assessed the susceptibility of S. hominis to 222 nm‐far‐UVC light in laboratory experiments, which showed an exponential surface inactivation constant of k = 0.475 cm2/mJ. This constant is a critical parameter for future on‐site use of far‐UVC light as a technique for reducing pathogenic bacterial load in dental clinics.