Oral Hygiene in the Presence of Orthodontic Therapy

Orthodontic treatment offers great advantages in improving facial and smile aesthetics, self-confidence and the function of the stomatognathic apparatus. The pursuit of these advantages makes use of orthodontic appliances that could be fixed or removable. However, it’s worth stating that these appliances interfere with tooth brushing, making it more difficult to brush teeth effectively. Orthodontics appliances therefore promote the accumulation of dental plaque, which results in both quantitative and qualitative changes in the oral microbiota, hence, exposing patients to several adverse effects such as White spot lesions, dental caries, periodontal pathologies and halitosis. For this reason, oral assessment of patients before, during and after treatment is necessary as well as oral hygiene instructions and motivation. Orthodontists therefore, should educate patients on oral and periodontal hygiene in order to control dental and periodontal complications. Prescriptions of plaque control materials adapted to each patient are done in order to optimize the final result and minimize unwanted complications.

The effect of chlorhexidine on plaque index and mutans streptococci in orthodontic patients:A pilot study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess chlorhexidine effects on plaque index and salivary levels of mutans streptococci (MS) when used as the immersion solution for removable orthodontic appliances and added to their acrylic resin composition. Methods: Forty-five patients (6 to 12 years old) were randomly assigned into three groups with 15 patients each. Group I (control)—without orthodontic appliances disinfection;Group II—removable orthodontic appliances which had been immersed in 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate overnight (8 hours), and Group III—orthodontic appliances in which 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate solution had been incorporated into their resin composition. Saliva was collected for quantification of MS and evaluation of plaque index was performed before and after installation of orthodontic appliance at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks. Data were analyzed by using analysis of variance. Results: Number of MS colonies in saliva and plaque index showed no statistically differences among groups at the different periods (p > 0.05). Conclusions: It could be concluded that chlorhexidine incorporation into the acrylic resin of removable orthodontic appliances at 0.12% concentration and immersion of the appliance into 0.12% chlorhexidine solution were not effective in reducing plaque index and the number of MS in saliva.

Effect of Attachment on Movement Control of the Central Incisor Using Invisible Orthodontics:In-Silico Finite Element Analysis

We aimed to study the influence of attachment on central incisor movement control using invisible orthodontics with different translation or rotation targets.In this study,cone-beam computerised tomography was used to scan one 15-year-old volunteer’s teeth.Three-dimensional models of the mandibular central incisor,removable orthodontic appliance,and a rectangular attachment were reconstructed.A non-linear finite element simulation was used to analyse the influence of attachment on the stress distribution of the periodontal ligament of the central incisor under tooth rotation,mesial translation,and labial-lingual translation.For mandibular central incisor correction,using rectangular attachments increased the translation by up to 9.6%,increased the maximum stress on the periodontal ligament during the mesial translation correction,and reduced unwanted labial-lingual tilt by up to 40%during the rotation of the tooth.However,wearing an attachment during labial-lingual translation had no significant effect on the orthodontic results of the mandibular central incisor.In the mandibular central incisor’s invisible orthodontic,the rectangular attachment appliance increased the displacement and alleviated the side effect after applying mesial translation and tooth rotation.For labial-lingual translation,the application of a rectangular attachment had no pronounced effect on the results.