Antibacterial Coatings for Orthodontic Materials: A review

White spot lesions are the most common iatrogenic effect observed post orthodontic treatment. These white spot lesions are opacities observed on the tooth surface that occur due to demineralization of the enamel surface. Since this is an irreversible effect, it becomes a great burden to both the orthodontic practitioners as well as patients to undo this lesion. It has been demonstrated that Streptococcus mutans, plays a crucial role in the initiation of white spot lesions by contributing to demineralisation of teeth, as the pH of the oral environment declines. The aim of this review is to discuss about the retraction mechanism in orthodontics and to discuss in. The aim of this review article is to discuss the coating methods to fabricate antibacterial coatings and understand their application for coating orthodontic materials. The coated orthodontic materials help to reduce the growth of the oral bacteria thus preventing the formation of white spot lesions. The various coating methods followed by different approaches to coat the orthodontic archwires, brackets, TADS, adhesives, retainer, elastic and bands and clear aligners have been discussed.