M Beerens

EFFECTS OF MI PASTE PLUS ® : A 3-MONTHS FOLLOW-UP 4 67 TABLE 2. WSL regression, determined by assessment of lesion depth (DF), lesion area (A), and integrated fluorescence loss (IFL), at three different time-points (T1, T2, and T3) in the casein phosphopeptide-stabilized amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACPF) group and the control group Group CPP-ACPF Control T1 T2 T3 T1 T2 T3 ∆F (%) 8.45 ± 1.17 7.93 ± 1.34 7.52 ± 1.78* 9.10 ± 1.75 8.22 ± 2.38 7.96 ± 2.76* A (mm 2 ) 5.07 ± 5.69 5.09 ± 6.53 5.05 ± 6.98 7.29 ± 7.91 5.96 ± 6.38 7.17 ± 7.76 IFL (%. mm 2 ) 56.37 ± 73.05 57.14 ± 86.74 57.76 ± 91.73 90.81 ± 111.28 70.17 ± 81.76 85.89 ± 97.82 Data are given as mean ± SD. *Data significantly different from T1. Plaque results The composition of plaque at the different time-points of this study are presented in Table 3. The numbers of CFUs observed before (i.e. at T0) and after (i.e. at T2 and T3) debonding were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.8). Significant decreases over time in the percentage of aciduric bacteria were found (P = 0.04). The mean percentage of aciduric bacteria decreased from 47.4% (SD) at T0 to 38.1% (SD) at T3, a reduction of nearly 10%. The reduction was significant in the CPP-ACPF group at T2 and T3, while, for the control group, the reduction in aciduric bacteria became significant at T3. No significant difference (P = 0.8) was found between the groups. The average number of S. mutans , for both groups combined, at the end of treatment with the fixed appliance (T0) comprised 9.6 ± 9.6% of the total CFUs. The average proportion of S. mutans , for both groups combined, decreased from T0 to T3 (6.6 ± 7.4%, P = 0.01). This appears to be caused by the changes seen in the control group, although the changes were not significantly different between the groups (P = 0.4). The number of Lactobacillus spp. found was low, and, in 45% of cases, below the detection limit of 400 CFUs. anova identified significant changes in the percentage of Lactobacillus spp. over time (P < 0.01), yet the changes were not consistent between groups and post-hoc testing showed a significant increase only in the control group at T2. Again, no differences were seen between the groups.