Comparative effectuality of two pre-procedural mouthwashes during debonding - a clinical study

Background and Objectives: The aerosols produced by air turbine handpiece during debonding procedures have a high potential risk factor for the spread of infectious agents. Mostly, dental procedures that involve the use of mechanical instrumentation will produce airborne particulate from the operating site. Airotors being commonly used to remove adhesive materials after debonding procedure are known to produce the most visible aerosols. Hence, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide and chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash on the amount of aerosol generation during debonding procedure. Materials and Methods: A split mouth design was followed in this study to allow each patient to serve as his or her own control. The study included 20 patients, randomly assigned into two groups, chlorhexidine and hydrogen peroxide. Blood agar plates were annexed to the face shields, and dental chair table which were used for collecting the aerosol samples following the removal of braces with bracket-removing pliers, the excess adhesive material left on the teeth was removed on the left side of the patient's mouth with a tungsten carbide bur on a handpiece. Then, the patient rinsed his/her mouth with mouthwash (undiluted) for 1 min, and the same clinical procedure was performed for the other side of the mouth, the plates were covered and color coded. The agar plates were sent for aerobic and anaerobic culture. Results: The results revealed that the use of high-speed air turbines with coolant during the removal of adhesive material significantly increases the amount of aerosol contamination in and around the operatory area. There was a reduction of aerobic and anaerobic colony forming units (CFUs) in both the groups, i.e., CHX (48.72%) and hydrogen peroxide (54.40%). Although hydrogen peroxide showed more CFU reductions in both aerobic and anaerobic colonies. Conclusion: In percentage reduction of CFUs, hydrogen peroxide Group showed more reduction than chlorhexidine Group.