Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring in Dental Units: Temporal Trends in Turbidity as a Rapid Indicator

Objective: This study aimed to monitor the turbidity of dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) over time during clinical hours and evaluate the potential of turbidity measurement as a real-time indicator of water quality indental clinics.Methods: Water samples were collected every hour for six consecutive weekdays from four unit chairs at a pediatric dental clinic.Turbidity was measured using a portable turbidimeter, and a subset of samples was analyzed for total bacterial count using Petrifilm.The effects of unit chair manufacturing year, treatment status, and flushing on turbidity were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test.Results: Turbidity levels were significantly higher in unit chairs used for high-speed handpiece treatment compared to those not in use (p＜0.001).Older units (manufactured in 2012) showed higher turbidity than newer units (manufactured in 2022) (p＜0.001).Flushing led to a notable reduction in both turbidity and bacterial count, suggesting its effectiveness in mitigating DUWLs contamination.Conclusion: Turbidity monitoring can reflect microbial contamination trends in DUWLs and may serve as a practical and rapid screening tool for real-time water quality assessment.Regular flushing, especially before clinical hours, contributes to improved water hygiene.However, further validation is needed to establish standardized Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) thresholds for clinical application.