Effects of single-dose, low-level laser therapy on pain associated with the initial stage of fixed orthodontic treatment: A randomized clinical trial / 대한치과교정학회지

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the analgesic effect of a single application of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on spontaneous pain and pain on chewing after placement of initial archwires. METHODS: Forty-two patients (26 women, 16 men) were randomly recruited for this split-mouth randomized clinical trial. Each patient received super-elastic nickel-titanium (NiTi) initial archwires (0.012, 0.014, 0.016, and 0.018-inch [in]) in the maxilla for leveling and alignment for an interval of 4 weeks between archwires. One side of the mouth was randomly designated as experimental, while the other side served as placebo. After insertion of each archwire, the experimental side was irradiated with a diode laser for 3 seconds each on 5 points facially and palatally per tooth, from the central incisor to first molar. On the placebo side, the laser device was held the same way but without laser application. A numerical rating scale was used to assess the intensity of spontaneous and masticatory pain for the following 7 days. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare pain scores between sides. RESULTS: Patients in the LLLT group exhibited significantly lower mean scores for spontaneous pain after insertion of the initial two archwires (0.012-in and 0.014-in NiTi; p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference for 0.016-in and 0.018-in wires between the LLLT and placebo groups. LLLT significantly reduced chewing pain scores (p < 0.05) for all archwires. CONCLUSIONS: A single dose of LLLT considerably lessened postoperative pain accompanying the placement of super-elastic NiTi wires for initial alignment and leveling.

Assessment of periapical root resorption after six months of fixed orthodontic treatment

Objective: the objective of the study was to compare the frequency and amount of root resorption after 6 months of fixed orthodontic treatment in crowding and non-crowding orthodontic patients

Methods: this cross sectional study conducted at the Department of Orthodontics, Alvi Dental Hospital, Karachi. The six month study was conducted from June - December 2008. Sample consists of 60 patients of two groups. Group A comprises of 30 patients of crowding in maxillary anterior teeth and Group B consisted of 30 patients of non crowding cases of maxillary anterior teeth. The data was collected through non probability purposive sampling. In preorthodontic phase [stage I], the apical root resorption was measured as a difference between length of tooth at pretreatment [T1] as compare to stage II [Postorthodontic stage] i.e. length of root six months after the orthodontic treatment [T2]. Subjective scoring of resorption was done from 0-4 with the help of apical root resorption index. Finally the root resorption was compared in between two groups i.e. crowding and non-crowding and data was recorded in a predesigned questionnaire

Results: in crowding group we found 27 [90%] cases with apical root resorption of less than 2mm as compared to non-crowding group, which had 21 [70%] cases. When compared the length of the tooth in stage II the average length was significantly higher in non-crowding group as compared to crowding [p<0.05]. In crowding group we found statistically significant difference in mean decrease length of tooth [mm] at T2 i.e after 6 months compared to mean tooth length [mm] [p<0.05] at T1. We estimated mean decrease of difference in length of T1 and T2 in crowding group compared with noncrowding group [p< 0.05]

Conclusion: there is significant difference [p<0.05] in mean length of tooth root in crowding and noncrowding patients after six months of orthodontic treatment

Effect of chewing gum on pain in fixed orthodontic treatment

Objective: To assess the intensity of orthodontic pain with and without the use of chewing gum during fixed orthodontic treatment in two groups of patients presenting at the Orthodontic Department of Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi

Methods: The study was conducted at the Orthodontic Department of Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, Pakistan. The sample population of this study was thirty adult patients who were planned to initiate fixed orthodontic appliance treatment. In this study, a parallel group clinical trial was conducted with two analogous groups, one was asked to chew gum following orthodontic bracket placement and second was asked not to chew gum. Up until the working wire was placed, the patients filled a questionnaire of Impact of Fixed Appliances after 24hrs and 1week. In order to analyze the intensity of pain, a visual analogue scale [VAS] was used

Results: At the initial 24hrs, among both chewing gum and non chewing gum groups, the difference in median Total Impact Score was 2, which means there was considerable difference [p=0.034; Mann-Whitney U test]

Whereas, the median difference of VAS among the two groups at 24 hours was also 2, also depicting there was considerable difference [p=0.03; Mann-Whitney U test]. However, after 1 week, there was no significant difference in both groups

Conclusion: Both the pain and impact of fixed orthodontic appliance was reduced by using chewing gum