Aerosols in the Dental Office: Best Practices for Patient and Practitioner Safety
Infectious Diseases Associated with Aerosols

Aside from the common cold (rhinoviruses and other viruses), several types of bacteria and viruses have demonstrated airborne person-to-person transmission (Table 2).^30,42-45

For many of these microorganisms, the overall microbial load within aerosols, splash, and splatter vary greatly predicated on disease status and the particular microorganism.^11-13,25 For example, the reproduction number (R₀) differs significantly between microorganisms.⁴⁶ The R₀ is the number of cases, on average, an infected patient will cause during their infectious period. This number, in practical application, is also influenced by the overall susceptibility within the population (e.g., vaccination rates, previous infection rates, cross-immunity from similar diseases, the novelty of a pathogen).⁴⁶ Lastly, the likelihood of transmission is also influenced by the susceptibility of the host and related factors such as, overall health status, genetic influences, immunocompetence, vaccination/infection history, and previous exposure to similar diseases.^47,48