Year : 2019

Volume : Volume 10

Issue : Issue 2

Address for correspondence :
Dr. V Madhusudhan V.
VMadhusudhan@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  The present study was conducted to assess disinfecting efficacy of chlorhexidine on orthodontics brackets. Materials & Methods: The present in vitro study was conducted on 50 orthodontics brackets kits from different manufacturer kits. All the brackets were divided into 5 groups. Group I comprised of American Orthodontics (10), group II had 3M Unitek (10), group III had Ortho Organizers (10), group IV had negative control (10), and group V had positive control (10).  Results: Bacterial contamination was present in 4 in group I, 3 in group II, 5 in group 5, 0 in group IV and 10 in group V. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). The most commonly isolated organism was K. pneumonia seen in 4 cases followed by S. aureus, Lactobacilli, S. epidermidis and B. cereus in 2 cases each. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). After phase I decontamination, organisms present were 2 in group I, 1 in group II and 2 in group III. The count became 0 after phase II decontamination. Conclusion: Authors found that disinfecting ability of 2% chlorhexidine proved highly effective in destroying both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Keywords: Chlorhexidine, Orthodontic brackets, gram-negative bacteria.