Abstract
BackgroundThis study evaluated the efficacy of four methods in removing Candida albicans from the acrylic base material used to fabricate removable orthodontic appliances.MethodsHeat-processed bars of orthodontic acrylic were incubated in a suspension of C. albicans for 2 h at 37 °C. Samples were allocated into five groups (five bars per group) according to the cleaning method: (1) manual brushing using a toothbrush; (2) soaking in a commercial denture cleaning solution; (3) soaking in a commercial mouthwash solution; (4) using an ultrasonic cleaner; and (5) soaking in distilled water as a negative control. Yeast remaining attached to the bars after cleaning were removed by vortexing in growth medium and plated on Sabouraud dextrose agar. The reduction in yeast colony count after cleaning was calculated and expressed as the number of colony forming units per acrylic bar (CFU/bar). The experiment was carried out three times.ResultsAll four cleaning methods resulted in a significant decrease in viable yeast cells associated with the acrylic bars compared to the control group. The mean percentage reduction in viable yeast cells affected by the cleaning methods was: brushing 89.9%; chlorhexidine 95.8%; ultrasonic cleaning 99.9%; and denture tablet 100%.ConclusionsAll four methods evaluated in this study were effective, to some extent, in removing C. albicans from orthodontic acrylic samples. The most effective, and readily available, cleaning method was the use of commercial denture sterilizing tablets.
Highlights
This study evaluated the efficacy of four methods in removing Candida albicans from the acrylic base material used to fabricate removable orthodontic appliances
The aim of this research was to assess the effectiveness of brushing with a toothbrush, soaking in a solution of a commercial denture cleaner, immersing in chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinse solution and using an ultrasonic cleaning to remove C. albicans from orthodontic acrylic resin
The C. albicans clinical isolate adhered well to the saliva-coated orthodontic acrylic bars, with an average of 9133 cells recovered from the bars by vortexing in growth medium
Summary
This study evaluated the efficacy of four methods in removing Candida albicans from the acrylic base material used to fabricate removable orthodontic appliances. There is an increasing number of children surviving cancer who, just like their healthy peers, seek orthodontic treatment [6] This is a special group of patients that should be motivated to maintain dental hygiene [6, 7], because the reduction in immune function allows C. albicans to proliferate and to cause infection [8, 9]. Wearing acrylic orthodontic appliances has been reported to be associated with increased proliferation of Candida regardless of the host immune system status [2, 11,12,13] These appliances provide an enhanced environment for C. albicans growth as they cover a large area of mucosal tissues for a considerable amount of time every day for a relatively long period [15, 16]. The combination of these factors may tip the balance in the wearers of orthodontic appliances to support Candida colonization and proliferation [2, 8] and increase dentine demineralization by enhancing the cariogenic potential of Streptococcus mutans containing biofilms [17]
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