{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T20:04:03Z","timestamp":1792008243091,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]],"date-time":"2019-11-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1572566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Water is essential during dental care. Physical and chemical techniques should be used to maintain a good water quality with respect to bacteria, and to ensure the safety of exposed patients and dental staff. The aim of this survey was to assess the modalities used by dental practitioners in Eastern France to maintain the water quality of their dental unit waterlines (DUWLs). A questionnaire about water quality maintenance practices was sent to 870 dental offices in 2016. The questionnaires were completed by 153 dental offices, covering about 223 dental care units. The majority of units were fed by mains water (91.0%), which is generally unfiltered (71.3%). One-third (33.6%) of the units had an independent water bottle reservoir. Flushing, a basic physical technique to improve the quality of units\u2019 outflow water, was practiced in 65.4% of dental offices. Concerning the chemical treatment of water, it was used for 62.1% of the units. An analysis of the microbiological quality of the DUWL water was only carried out in 2.6% of the offices. In conclusion, providing better training to dental staff seems necessary to improve their practices and to generalize procedures that improve the microbiological quality of the water used.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16214242","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]],"date-time":"2019-11-01T12:30:50Z","timestamp":1572611450000},"page":"4242","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Dental Unit Waterlines: A Survey of Practices in Eastern France"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2905-0530","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandre","family":"Baudet","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, University of Lorraine,  54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"},{"name":"Department of Dentistry, University Hospital,  54000 Nancy, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8831-5629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julie","family":"Lizon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene and Environmental Analysis, University Hospital, 54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Marc","family":"Martrette","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, University of Lorraine,  54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"},{"name":"Department of Dentistry, University Hospital,  54000 Nancy, France"},{"name":"EA 3450 DevAH, University of Lorraine, 54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric","family":"Camelot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dental Private Practice, 88300 Neufchateau, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2011-4016","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arnaud","family":"Florentin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene and Environmental Analysis, University Hospital, 54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Lorraine, 54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"},{"name":"EA 4360 APEMAC, University of Lorraine, 54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C\u00e9line","family":"Cl\u00e9ment","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, University of Lorraine,  54505 Vand\u0153uvre-l\u00e8s-Nancy, France"},{"name":"Department of Dentistry, University Hospital,  54000 Nancy, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3431","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-014-3628-6","article-title":"Microbial contamination of dental unit waterlines and effect on quality of indoor air","volume":"186","author":"Kadaifciler","year":"2014","journal-title":"Environ. 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