The prevalence of bacteraemia on removal of fixed orthodontic appliances

This study investigated the prevalence of bacteraemia on removal of fixed appliances. Venous blood samples were taken before and after debonding and debanding for 30 patients (mean age 17 years 8 months) who had worn fixed appliances for an average of 19 months. Before removal of the fixed appliances, bacteraemia was detected in one of the 30 subjects (3%) and in four subjects (13%) following removal of their fixed appliances. The 95 per cent confidence intervals for the prevalence of post-debanding bacteraemia were 3.8 and 30.7 per cent. No significant relationship was detected between the mean plaque scores (t = -0.65, P = 0.52) or the mean gingival scores (t = 0.75, P = 0.46) and the occurrence of bacteraemia. The prevalence of bacteraemia detected following debanding in this study is considerably lower than reported for dental procedures traditionally covered by antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.