Background: the placement of orthodontic appliances creates a favorable environment for the accumulation of microbiota, therefore this study is to assess
the relationship between removable orthodontic appliance and oral microflora.
Materials and methods: a sample 45 patients who come to orthodontic department at the collage of dentistry/Baghdad university, divided into 3 groups:
group 1 (15) without appliance, group2 (15) with appliance for 2 weeks-2 months, and group 3 (15) with appliance for 2 -4 months, then examine the oral microflora
and compared between the 3 groups.
Results: the result showed eleven types of microorganisms appear in group 3 then followed by seven types in group 2 but only three types of microorganisms in
group 1.
Conclusion: there is need to educate the patients who received orthodontic appliance about their oral hygiene because oral microflora were changed among
orthodontic patients.