title: Antimicrobial effectiveness of a highly concentrated chlorhexidine varnish treatment in teenagers with fixed orthodontic appliances.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Operative Dentistry and Preventive Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. renginattin@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Rengin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Attin
authors.forename: Anika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ilse
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Attin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D016910:Orthodontic Brackets; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects*; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; C477721:EC40 dental varnish; D002710:Chlorhexidine