Impact of riboflavin mediated photodynamic disinfection around fixed orthodontic system infected with oral bacteria.

Abstract Purpose The aim of this laboratory study was to investigate the amount of bacterial destruction through riboflavin mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) around fixed orthodontic devices by using two strains of bacteria including Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis. Materials and methods A total of 80 metallic brackets were divided into four groups consisting of 20 brackets each. Group-I: riboflavin + LED irradiation; Group-II: riboflavin alone; Group-III: immersion in 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate solution and Group-IV: not submitted to any treatment. All metallic brackets were immersed in the standard bacterial solutions and incubated at 48 h. All samples were subjected to MTT assay for microbial cell viability testing after treatment. After 24 h of incubation, biofilms adhered on the mesh of metallic brackets after treatment were assessed by confocal laser microscopy. The total CFU/mL was estimated, and the results were log-transformed (log10) and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey-Kramer test. P-value was set to Results The samples from group-IV showed the highest amount of relative biofilm viability compared to any other group while group-I (PDT) showed the least viability of the two bacterial strains studied (p   0.05). The biofilms on the samples from group-II and group-IV were largely viable indicating thick green staining across the mesh of the brackets. Among the group-III samples, there were predominantly dead cells as compared to the live cell staining. A considerable amount of red staining was observed with noticeable less green staining in group-I samples Conclusion This laboratory investigation revealed that riboflavin mediated PDT significantly reduced the amounts of S. mutans and S. sanguinis around the orthodontic brackets.