Towards paradigmless orthodontics

Root resorption of self-ligating and conventional preadjusted brackets in severe anterior crowding Class I patients: a longitudinal retrospective study

Background

To test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the apical root resorption seen after orthodontic treatment with the conventional brackets and the self-ligating brackets.

Methods

Pre-treatment and post-treatment periapical radio-graphs of 70 patients, (35 treated with the Damon3 0.022” bracket and 35 with the 0.022” 3 M bracket) were studied. The long cone paralleling technique was used for all the radio-graphs. Any image distortion between the pre-treatment and post-treatment radio-graph was calculated and compensated for by using the crown length measurements, on the assumption that the crown length remains unaltered during the treatment period. Quantitative measurements of crown and root lengths for the maxillary and the mandibular central and lateral incisors were compared. Means and standard deviations for the percentage root resorption per tooth group were calculated. A paired t-test and non paired t-test analysis was performed to determine whether there was an appliance, treatment time, or initial age effect on the amount of root resorption seen after treatment.

Result

No statistically significant difference in root resorption between the two appliance systems was found. The patient’s degree of root resorption were graded as grade 1 and grade 2 in the self-ligating group which is more than the conventional group.

Conclusions

There was no significant difference in root resorption between self-ligating brackets and conventional brackets in severe crowding incisors subjects.

Apical root resorption in orthodontically treated subjects: analysis of edgewise and light wire mechanics

Of the several modes of tooth movement, pressure from intrusive forces seems the most likely to cause external apical root resorption (EARR). This has been demonstrated for incisors in human beings and molars in laboratory animals. The present study examined full-banded adolescent patients and scored the degrees of in-treatment root resorption throughout the dentition. Just Class I cases with four first premolar extractions were used. Equal samples of conventional Begg and Tweed treated cases were examined with 1:1 sex ratios (total n = 83). No difference between the Begg and Tweed techniques and no sex difference was found in any of the 30 univariate tests, even though power analysis indicated a strong likelihood of finding a difference if one existed. By using multiple linear regression, significant decreases in length (EARR) were found for those roots systematically intruded in this Class I malocclusion, notably the mesial root of the maxillary first molar and the distal root of the mandibular first molar. Even though some of the present cases had been in "active" treatment up to 6 years, we found no significant association between duration of treatment and degree or amount of EARR.