Count, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria recovered from dental solid waste in Brazil

In Brazil, few studies on microbial content of dental solid waste and its antibiotic susceptibility are available. An effort has been made through this study to evaluate the hazardous status of dental solid waste, keeping in mind its possible role in cross-infection chain. Six samples of solid waste were collected at different times and seasons from three dental health services. The microbial content was evaluated in different culture media and atmospheric conditions, and the isolates were submitted to antibiotic susceptibility testing. A total of 766 bacterial strains were isolated and identified during the study period. Gram-positive cocci were the most frequent morphotype isolated (48.0%), followed by Gram-negative rods (46.2%), Gram-positive rods (5.0%), Gram-negative-cocci (0.4%), and Gram-positive coccobacillus (0.1%). Only two anaerobic bacteria were isolated (0.3%). The most frequently isolated species was Staphylococcus epidermidis (29.9%), followed by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (8.2%), and Enterococcus faecalis (6.7%). High resistance rate to ampicillin was observed among Gram-negative rods (59.4%) and Gram-positive cocci (44.4%). For Gram-negative rods, high resistance was also noted to aztreonam (47.7%), cefotaxime (47.4%), ceftriaxone and cefazolin (43.7%), and ticarcillin-clavulanic acid (38.2%). Against Gram-positive cocci penicillin exhibit a higher resistance rate (45.0%), followed by ampicillin, erythromycin (27.2%), and tetracycline (22.0%). The present study demonstrated that several pathogenic bacteria are present in dental solid waste and can survive after 48 h from the waste generation time and harbor resistance profiles against several clinical recommended antibiotics.