How to manage oral biofilms to avoid enamel demineralization associated with orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance?

Jung-Sub An; Bum-Soon Lim; Sug-Joon Ahn

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Korean J Orthod

First Published Date September 15, 2023

How to manage oral biofilms to avoid enamel demineralization associated with orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance?

Jung-Sub An^a, Bum-Soon Lim^b, Sug-Joon Ahn^c

^aAssistant Professor, Dental Research Institute and Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
^bProfessor, Dental Research Institute and Department of Dental Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
^cProfessor, Dental Research Institute and Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to:Sug-Joon Ahn
Professor, Dental Research Institute and Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
Telephone: +82-2-2072-2672
Fax: +82-2-2072-3817
E-mail: titoo@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

Enamel demineralization is the most common complication of orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance. The main etiology of enamel demineralization is cariogenic biofilms formed around the orthodontic appliances. In general, oral biofilms are in dynamic equilibrium with host defense mechanisms. When this equilibrium is disturbed by certain environmental changes, such as wearing a fixed orthodontic appliance, the microbial composition of the biofilm changes from non-pathogenic to pathogenic, increasing the proportion of cariogenic bacteria, mainly mutans streptococci, in the biofilm. The article describes the relationships between oral biofilms and orthodontic appliances and then focus on the strategies for managing oral biofilms to avoid enamel demineralization around orthodontic appliances.

Keywords: Decalcification, Microbiology, Biomaterial science, Cariology, Biofilm, Mutans streptococci

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Korean J Orthod

First Published Date September 15, 2023

How to manage oral biofilms to avoid enamel demineralization associated with orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance?

Jung-Sub An^a, Bum-Soon Lim^b, Sug-Joon Ahn^c

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.