Year : 2018

Volume : Volume 9

Issue : Issue 2

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Ujwala Paruchuri.
UjwalaParuchuri@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  Molar bands are the most commonly used attachments on posterior teeth till date. Preformed bands are preferred as they save a lot of time. A possible concern with using such bands is the lack of  cross infection control as several bands may have to be tried on the patient’s teeth before finding the perfect match. This study was undertaken to compare the efficiency of the techniques in sterilization of tried-in  orthodontic bands in a clinical situation and to study the growth of microbial cultures on such bands.100 bands to be used on 25 patients in all the four quadrants were sterilized in an autoclave and checked for microbial culture which was negative. They were then tried on the teeth in the subjects and rinsed thoroughly with water for three minutes. The bands were divided into groups of 30 each and sterilized using three different techniques, namely, chemical sterilization with Korsolex, hot air oven and autoclaving. They were then cultured in BHI broth followed by subculture in Mac Conkeys medium and blood agar for 48 hours to check for microbial growth. No microbial growth was seen on the bands of hot air oven group. It was found that the proportion of growth in the Korsolex group was significantly higher than the hot air oven group. (p>0.05) Subcultures of the groups where growth was seen showed the presence of Pseudomonas (72%), Staphylococcus aureus (18%) and Klebsiella (9%). It was concluded that though cold sterilization is one of the cost and time effective methods, it has to be followed with correct dilution and time of immersion. Hot air oven proved to be the best method to sterilize tried-in bands.

Keywords: Molar bands, microbes, orthodontics.