title: The prevalence of bacteraemia on removal of fixed orthodontic appliances.
abstract: This study investigated the prevalence of bacteraemia on removal of fixed appliances. Venous blood samples were taken before and after debonding and debanding for 30 patients (mean age 17 years 8 months) who had worn fixed appliances for an average of 19 months. Before removal of the fixed appliances, bacteraemia was detected in one of the 30 subjects (3%) and in four subjects (13%) following removal of their fixed appliances. The 95 per cent confidence intervals for the prevalence of post-debanding bacteraemia were 3.8 and 30.7 per cent. No significant relationship was detected between the mean plaque scores (t = -0.65, P = 0.52) or the mean gingival scores (t = 0.75, P = 0.46) and the occurrence of bacteraemia. The prevalence of bacteraemia detected following debanding in this study is considerably lower than reported for dental procedures traditionally covered by antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Orthodontic Division, School of Dentistry, Queen's University Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.forename: Wilson A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Coulter
authors.forename: Chris D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mullally
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D000190:Actinomyces / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017005:Dental Debonding; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016910:Orthodontic Brackets; D010512:Periodontal Index; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014678:Veillonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D034363:Viridans Streptococci / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification