Frequently Asked Questions

1. Surface disinfection. You spray the solutions and wipe with a paper towel – eliminating the use of environmentally unfriendly and expensive wipes.

2. Environmental disinfection. Dentaqua supply a fogger with the device which you can use to disinfect your waiting rooms and communal areas.

3. Dental unit water line disinfection. You fill your dental water bottles each day eliminating the requirement for water disinfection tablets or other disinfection products.

By pressing the dedicated ‘Ecasol’ disinfectant button, fill your reusable spray bottle, spray surfaces and wipe down using a biodegradable paper towel. Alternatively, fully immerse appropriate quality paper towels in Ecasol (generated fresh every day) and you have prepared your own, highly effective, safe and environmentally-friendly disinfecting wipes.

Due to its natural constituents, very low chloride concentration and neutral pH, Dentaqua does not leave a residue on surfaces.

Fill your Dentaqua-provided hand-held fogging device with freshly generated Ecasol. Fog room generously and until hard surfaces show slight visible moisture. Leave to dry naturally (usually only a few minutes).

Immediately. Dentaqua is harmless to humans at the concentration used for environmental fogging and surface disinfection, so it is not a risk to persons carrying out the fogging task or anyone entering the room during or immediately afterwards.

Your Ecasol concentrated solution is very effective as a dental impression disinfectant and hand sanitiser. You can shock-dose your dental waterlines with Ecasol prior to reuse if your chairs are idle for long periods of time.

Details on the above applications are available within your start-up technical pack.
If my waterlines are connected directly to a mains or building water supply, can I still use Dentaqua?
Yes, Dentaqua also offers centralized dental water disinfection systems. 

However, to be fully in control of your dental water quality, we recommend that dental practices consider retro-fitting existing chairs with a separate water bottle system, which all operatories can facilitate. Prices to retro-fit an independent bottle unit start at less than $200 per dental unit.

Our core technology passes water and a tiny amount of proprietary saline solution through an electrolytic cell to generate an environmentally friendly, non-toxic water-based disinfectant solution. Uniquely, Dentaqua produces a solution containing activated hypochlorous acid (HOCI) plus short-lived reactive oxygen species (ROS), always at neutral pH.

Dentaqua is not just a device, but rather a system that helps you achieve a far higher standard of infection control and minimize chemical disinfectant use and exposure generally within your practice. With each Dentaqua device, you receive a complimentary handheld, low-micron ‘fogger’ enabling you to quickly disinfect surgeries and communal areas between patient visits throughout the day.

You also receive a complimentary supply of high-quality refillable spray bottles, which when used, in combination with biodegradable paper towels, will eliminate the need for you to buy expensive and environmentally unsustainable plastic-laden disinfectant wipes.

The amount of Ecasol produced and each dental water bottle-fill is time stamped and logged, and data is accessible via our web access platform for your convenience.

Your Dentaqua supply also includes all consumables required for the operation of your device. We provide 24 hour technical and disinfectant-use support and, in the very unlikely event that your device stops operating, a replacement device will be delivered to you within 24 hours.

One Dentaqua’s DW-8 device will provide for the dental water and general disinfectant needs of a 10 operatory practice.

Many studies have shown that dental chair output water is frequently contaminated by large numbers of various micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses). This contamination results from the growth of microbial biofilms on the internal surfaces of dental waterlines. Microbial contamination in DUWLs may originate from the mains water piped into the dental unit, the failure of anti-retraction valves, and contamination from bottled water systems. 

Some of the factors contributing to the problem are: the very narrow bore tubing used (0.5–2 mm), high surface-to-volume ratio (6:1) within the tube, low throughput, the polymeric make-up of the tubing and water stagnation during downtime. Furthermore, plastic tubing is hydrophobic making biofilm attachment easy. The tubing is also a source of nutrition for microbes in the form of carbon.

Dental waterlines also suffer from what is known as “laminar” flow. This occurs when the water closest to the inner wall of the tubing – where the biofilms are attached – is virtually undisturbed and the water flows through the centre of the tubing. The area where biofilms are attached is unaffected by the flow of the water and the biofilm is free to grow and seed the water flow generally.

According to The Dental Advisor: ‘Although incoming water from an external source is sanitized and meets public health safety standards for potable quality (<500 cfu/ml of bacteria and <1 coliform), water coming out of the waterline may eventually contain 1,000,000 cfu/ml’

Planktonic microbes and by-products, such as bacterial endotoxins seeded from the biofilm into the water flow are aerosolised by dental instruments exposing patients and staff to harmful microorganisms, biofilm fragments and bacterial endotoxins. For example, dental staff are known to statistically carry higher levels of legionella antibodies. 

More recently, the CDC reported a cluster of potentially fatal idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) amongst dental personnel. Separately, evidence points to viral exposure playing a potential role as a co-factor in the initiation and progression of IPF.

Biofilms are formed mainly by micro-organisms arriving in low numbers in supply water, such as mains or bottle water, which then adhere to the internal surface of the waterlines and form a biofilm. 

The dental chair water remains stagnant for long periods of time, typically in warm environments. Planktonic microbes are seeded from the biofilm into the water flow in addition to by-products, such as bacterial endotoxins.

No. Microbial contamination and biofilm growth is not inhibited by using bottled or sterile water. Almost all sources of water being supplied to dental chairs is of potable quality, be it bottled, municipal, demonised/distilled, or of course, sterile.

The problem is not created or solved by the quality of the source water. Rather the microbes and biofilm that is established/inherent in the dental waterlines (and more often than not in the water bottle also) contaminates the water running through the lines, regardless of input water quality.

Sterile water becomes contaminated within 5 minutes of introduction to a typical dental unit.
Bacteria populations double every 20 minutes. 

A 20 micron thick biofilm layer on a wet component can cause a 30% decrease in thermal efficiency. Biofilm is up to four times more insulating than calcium carbonate scale. Moreover, biofilm can increase inorganic fouling, producing sticky substances that increase particle adhesion.

For example, in dental hand pieces, the decrease in thermal cooling efficiency can cause bearings to fail prematurely. Biofilm can also cause blockages in narrow bore water tubes requiring components to be repaired or replaced. More generally, biofilm-related corrosion and organic build-up is known to damage a wide variety water-contact components over time.

Dentaqua’s devices are extremely reliable in the field. Online monitoring, with remote diagnostics, enables us to keep a close eye on your device.

However, in the unusual circumstance that an error shows that is unresolved, we guarantee that you will have a replacement device delivered to you within 24 hours of notifying us.