Antimicrobial effectiveness of a highly concentrated chlorhexidine varnish treatment in teenagers with fixed orthodontic appliances.
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.
Attin
Rengin
R
Department of Operative Dentistry and Preventive Dentistry and Periodontology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. renginattin@yahoo.de
Ilse
Anika
A
Werner
Carola
C
Wiegand
Annette
A
Attin
Thomas
T
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
D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; C477721:EC40 dental varnish; D002710:Chlorhexidine