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Published on: October 20, 2011
Investigation of bacteremia following insertion of orthodontic mini-implants
Tancan Uysal1, Ahmet Yagci, Duygu Esel
1Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. tancanuysal@yahoo.com
Aim:
To investigate the incidence of bacteremia in the bloodstream immediately after orthodontic mini-implant insertion, which can be an invasive procedure.
Methods:
Blood samples (10 mL) were taken before and after mini-implant insertion from 40 patients (18 males, 22 females; mean age 21.3 ± 7.7 years). These samples were inoculated into BacT/Alert aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles and processed in a BacT/Alert 9240 Blood Culture System. The findings were analyzed with the McNemar test.
Results:
No bacteremia was detected in the pretreatment samples, but it was in one of the postprocedure samples. The respective bacteria was Streptococcus sanguinis, which is strongly associated with bacterial endocarditis.
Conclusion:
Orthodontic mini-implant placement might possibly be correlated to transitory bacteremia. Therefore, a very careful approach seems indicated when dealing with patients who are at risk for cardiopathic complications.
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