Bacteraemia following debanding and gold chain adjustment

The purpose of this research was to estimate the prevalence, intensity, and nature of bacteraemia following deband and gold chain adjustment. Forty-nine children, 25 males and 24 females, mean age 15.4 years, attending the Orthodontic Department at the Eastman Dental Hospital were recruited. A cannula was inserted into either the left or the right antecubital fossa using an aseptic technique. A 6 ml sample of blood was taken before treatment and another 6 ml, 30 seconds after either upper deband (n = 42) or gold chain adjustment (n = 7). McNewmar's test was used to determine differences in the proportion of positive blood cultures and Wilcoxon matched pairs test to compare continuous variables. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the prevalence of bacteraemia between baseline (eight, 19 per cent) and following upper deband (11, 26 per cent) or between baseline (four, 57 per cent) and gold chain adjustment (four, 57 per cent). There was also no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the intensity of the anaerobic bacteraemia between baseline and following deband or gold chain adjustment. Although the number of subjects undergoing gold chain adjustment was small, the findings demonstrate that neither upper debanding nor gold chain adjustment is associated with a significant bacteraemia.