Abstract

Evaluation of Microbial Contamination of Different Orthodontic as Received Arch Wires from Manufacturers

Author(s):Hassan Suha Saad, Ghaib Nidhal H and Al-Ghurabi Batool Hassan

Aims of study: The present study was carried out to assess whether as received arch wires from manufactures are free of microbial contamination as well as to identify the bacterial count and types attached to arch wires. Materials and Methods: Eighty samples were included in this study consisting of two types of arch wires (nitinol and stainlesssteel); they were from four companies (3 M, Ortho-Technology, Jiscop and G&H). The wires were inserted into plane tubes that contain 10 ml of BHI broth and tris-EDTA. Further 0.1 ml was withdrawn from plane tube and spread on agar plates. Moreover 16 plane tubes (8 tubes with brain heart infusion broth and 8 with tris-EDTA) without arch wires were considered as controls group. Results: Microbial sampling yielded growth from 7 of the 80 arch wires studied, the predominant bacteria isolated were staphylococci spp. No growth was recovered from 73 of the samples and from controls. The total viable count of bacteria in BHI reagent is more than that in Tris-EDTA reagent with statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Meanwhile this study found that the Jiscop company have more viable count as compared to other companies. However, there were no significant differences among them (P>0.05). In regard to the presence and distribution of bacteria according to types of wires, the stainless-steel wires have more viable count (49.58) than that in nitinol (47.42) but statistically not significant (P0.05). Conclusion: The arch wires received from manufacturer are often contaminated and therefore there is a need for routine disinfection of such items. This study found that the BHI more is effective in dislodging the bacteria from orthodontic arch wires than tris- EDTA. However, the stainless-steel arch wires were more contaminated than nitinol and most common contaminant were Staphylococci spp

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