Evaluation of the Effect of Zinc Oxide and Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Coating of Orthodontic Brackets on Streptococcus Mutans Count

Abstract

The percentage of plaque coverage is reported to be higher in individuals newlineundergoing fixed orthodontic treatment, with an increase in the count of acidproducing newlineStreptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and subsequent white spot lesion newline(WSL) formation. Despite the available evidence on the effectiveness of home care newlinetechniques and in-office procedures, a larger percentage of orthodontists do not newlineimplement them in their practice and majority of them are dependent on patient newlinecooperation. Coating stainless steel (SS) orthodontic brackets using nanoparticles newlinewith potent antibacterial properties has shown a predictable reduction in S. mutans newlinecount under in vitro conditions. Using a combination of two nanoparticles as a newlinehybrid coating method improved the antibacterial properties and may also reduce the newlineadverse effects of the individual nanoparticles. newlineThe previous studies evaluating the effectiveness of hybrid nanocoating newlinewere conducted under in vitro conditions using the colony count method, which has newlinean inherent disadvantage of inaccuracy in counting the number of colony forming newlineunits (CFUs). Considering the current lacunae in the literature for the clinical newlineevidence of hybrid nanocoating of orthodontic brackets, the current study evaluated newlinethe effect of Copper oxide (CuO), Zinc oxide (ZnO), and (Copper oxide /Zinc oxide) newlineCuO/ ZnO nanocoated SS orthodontic brackets on S. mutans count in the plaque newlinearound the brackets during fixed orthodontic treatment using real-time quantitative newlinepolymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR) newline