Effect of fixed orthodontic appliances on the presence of cariogenic bacteria
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Date
2018-06
Authors
Kozak, Paige
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Abstract
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to use a chair-side saliva immunoassay to determine the overall prevalence of high Streptococcus mutans levels in orthodontic patients and to determine the prevalence of high S. mutans levels as a function of dental crowding and bracket type at four time-points throughout orthodontic treatment.
Methods: 100 patients undergoing orthodontic treatment were selected, among which 35 used conventional brackets and 65 used self-ligated brackets. The sample population was comprised of 60 females and 40 males with overall mean age of 17.2 years. The chairside saliva assay Saliva-Check MUTANSTM was used to measure each subject at four time-points: immediately prior to bonding (T0), 3 months (T1), 6 months (T2) and 12 months (T3) into treatment. Bacteria levels as well as the amount of crowding were recorded at each time-point. Of the 400 anticipated data collection points, 8 were not recorded due to 6 patients being lost to follow-up. A repeated measures model was used to investigate the relationship between bracket type, crowding, and the risk of high bacteria levels. Specifically, a generalized linear mixed-effects model (GLMM) was used to account for the fact that the risk of high bacterial levels intrinsically varies between patients. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was significant.
Results: The overall prevalence of high S. mutans levels was found to be 81% at T0, 78% at T1, 68% at T2 and 47% at T3. Bracket and crowding effects on bacteria levels were found to be non-significant (p>0.05). Only the effect of time was found
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to be significant, specifically, that T3 was different from T0, T1 and T2 (p<0.0007). An incidental finding in our study showed males had a greater prevalence of high S. mutans throughout orthodontic treatment, however this gender effect was not statistically significant (p>0.05).
Conclusions: The Saliva-Check MUTANSTM assays’ high sensitivity and specificity make it an effective tool to measure S. mutans levels and its use may facilitate further research in the field of oral health in general and the etiology of WSLs specifically.
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Keywords
Mutans, orthodontics, saliva