ASSESSMENT OF ENAMEL DECALCIFICATION IN ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS

Introduction: Enameldecalcification in the form of white spot lesion is a common complication seenin patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.Aims and Objective: To determine the prevalence of white spot lesionamongFixedorthodonticpatients,to compare the occurrence of WSL among the patients with lesser and greater duration of treatment, and to Fixed orthodontic compare between the gender groups.Materials & Method: A cross-sectional study was done to compare the prevalence of WSL between 300orthodontic patients and 100 non-orthodontic subjects. A further comparison was done between the meantreatment duration between orthodontic subjects of 6-18 months and >18 months, and between male and female samples. Subjects were visually examined on the second premolar to the second premolar in both maxillary andmandibulararchesusingGorelick'sWSL index. Descriptive statistics were calculated and independent t-test was used to compare the difference between the groups. The p-value <0.05 was considered significant.Result: The prevalence of WSL in orthodontic patients was 54.3%; among them, the prevalence was 40% inlesser treatment duration group and 68.7% in greater treatment duration group. The study found a significantdifference between the untreated non-orthodontic group and orthodontically treated group with respect to thenumber of teeth affected with WSL. Also, there was a significant difference between the categories oforthodontic treatment duration. There was no significant difference between male and female samples.Conclusion: Fixed orthodontic treatment increase the risk of white spot lesion. Duration of orthodontictreatment also showed a significant increase in the occurrence of WSL.