Evaluation of the Efficacy of Different Cleaning Methods for Orthodontic Thermoplastic Retainers in terms of Bacterial Colonization.

The application of PBCTs and vinegar to VFRs at sequential time intervals resulted in similar bacteria counts. The higher LB counts and similarly higher SM counts on the VFR samples indicate that mechanical cleaning only (control method) is not adequate to obtain hygiene. Salivary flora was not correlated with bacteria counts of VFRs.