Orthodontic Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Orthodontic, including details on braces, retainers, treatment.

Antimicrobial effectiveness of a highly concentrated chlorhexidine varnish treatment in teenagers with fixed orthodontic appliances.

Attin R, Ilse A, Werner C, Wiegand A, Attin T

Department of Operative Dentistry and Preventive Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. renginattin@yahoo.de

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the recolonization pattern of Mutans streptococci (ms) on densely colonized teeth with fixed orthodontic appliances after treatment with a highly concentrated (36%) chlorhexidine varnish. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthy subjects (n = 19) with fixed orthodontic appliances and high bacterial ms counts in saliva were recruited. In order to establish a baseline registration, plaque adjacent to brackets was sampled and cultivated on Dentocult strips. Following professional tooth cleaning, chlorhexidine varnish was applied on all teeth for 8 minutes. The degree of recolonization with ms was assessed 2 weeks after varnish application in plaque around the brackets. For statistical analysis, the data were subjected to a repeated measures design. RESULTS: After 2 weeks, ms counts were reduced as compared to baseline values. However, the reduction only weakly met statistical significance (P = .049). CONCLUSIONS: The application of a highly concentrated chlorhexidine varnish in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances does not result in a distinct reduction of ms numbers 2 weeks after treatment.

Published 8 November 2006 in Angle Orthod, 76(6): 1022-7.
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