Evaluation of the sanitization effectiveness of a denture-cleaning product on dentures contaminated with known microbial flora. An in vitro study

Objectives: To see if dentures contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, and herpes simplex virus 1 could be effectively decontaminated by using Medical Tabs for Dentures. Method and materials: Ten methylmethacrylate dentures with processed soft liners (soft-liner dentures) and 10 methylmethacrylate dentures without processed soft liners (hard dentures) were aseptically fragmented and individually incubated with a target microorganism. Test denture fragments were immersed in Medical for 5 minutes, vortexed for 5 minutes, and serially diluted onto media. The control denture fragments were similarly treated in sterile water. For virus contamination, denture fragments were contaminated with 1.2 × 10⁹ tissue culture infective dose (TCID)₅₀/mL. They were treated with either Medical for 5 minutes (test fragments) or water (controls) for 5 minutes. Serial dilutions were performed and viral (TCID)₅₀/mL titers were calculated using the Reed-Muench method. Results: Medical treatments effectively eliminated C albicans, S aureus, and P aeruginosa from soft-liner dentures. Treatment of hard dentures eradicated C albicans and reduced the numbers of S aureus and P aeruginosa to 10. B cereus showed a reduction of 10 microorganisms in hard dentures while the soft-liner dentures did not show an appreciable reduction. Viral analyses found that both types of dentures retained large amounts of virus when washed with water, but no virus was recovered from any of the 40 samples treated with Medical. Conclusion: A single use of Medical Tabs for Dentures is effective in eliminating certain species of microorganisms, including selected viruses, in vitro.