The results suggest that orthodontic treatment may cause sustained changes in plaque microbiotas and that molar bond-associated plaque may have raised disease potential.

Objective: To evaluate the literature on different methods of scoring plaque in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. Materials and Methods: A systematic electronic and hand search using MEDLINE and PubMed was conducted. Results: Most orthodontic trials have used the original Silness and Lö e plaque index. Indices vary in several potentially important aspects. Only two papers have reported reproducibility of methods of plaque scoring in orthodontic patients. Conclusion: Some plaque indices are inappropriate for orthodontic patients. Newer digital planimetric methods are promising if more complex. There is a need to further assess the reproducibility and practicability of the advocated methods. (Angle Orthod. 2012;82:748-753.)

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Molar bands are associated with greater periodontal inflammation compared with molar bonds in the first three months of fixed orthodontic treatment.

The effect of the Twin Block functional orthodontic appliances is mostly dento-alveolar with small skeletal effect. There are certain clinical indications where functional appliances can be used successfully in class II malocclusion e.g. in a growing patient. The use of these appliances is greatly dependent on the patient's compliance and they simplify the fixed appliance phase. In this case, a 13-year old adolescent was treated with Twin Block appliance followed by fixed appliance to detail the occlusion. The design and treatment effects were demonstrated in this case report.

Background:To compare changes in the amount and distribution of dental plaque associated with placement of elastomeric modules over a self-ligating bracket during orthodontic treatment and to relate these changes to the periodontal inflammation.Materials and Methods:A cross-arch randomization trial was carried out at Bristol Dental School, United Kingdom. Clinical measurements of periodontal inflammation and plaque accumulation and microbiological test were done on 24 patients aged 11-14 years [Mean (SD) age = 12.6 (1.01) years] wearing fixed appliances (Damon 2 brackets, Ormco, Orange, CA, USA) at the start and 3 months into fixed orthodontic treatment.Results:In the first 3 months of treatment there was no statistically significant difference in bleeding on probing between incisors with and without elastomeric modules (P = 0.125 and 0.508, respectively). The difference in plaque accumulation was not statistically significant (P = 0.78). The difference in probing depths between the incisors was not statistically significant (P = 0.84). The microbiological analysis showed no difference.Conclusions:Based on this preliminary 3 months study, elastomeric modules were not significantly associated with any increased risk during treatment when compared to self-ligating brackets. The longer term studies are needed to further confirm the findings of the present study.

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