Oral lactobacilli isolated from teenage orthodontic patients.

Orthodontic bands form retention areas which create favourable conditions for growth of lactobacilli. This study deals with the numbers and specific species of lactobacilli in the oral cavity of teenage orthodontic patients. High numbers of lactobacilli were obtained (log 6.398 +/- 0.761 cfu/ml) and the buffer capacity of saliva indicated a high caries risk amongst these individuals but the actual DMFT values were relatively low. Homofermentative lactobacilli predominated in both plaque and saliva and particularly L. salivarius and L. casei. These two lactobacilli species indicated that these patients are at a high caries risk. Several other homofermentative and heterofermentative lactobacilli were isolated which indicated the complexity of the oral lactobacilli community in saliva and plaque.