ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: New design of brackets have been introduced in the field of orthodontics in the recent past, and one of such advancement is the self-ligating brackets. These brackets are said to have less friction, with a shorter period of treatment. Better patient acceptance and good treatment results are some of the other advantages offered by self-ligating brackets. Hence, we comparatively evaluated root resorption of anterior teeth by self-ligating and conventional preadjusted brackets in cases of severe anterior crowding in class I patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was carried out at the department of orthodontics in a dental institution and included 140 patients that presented with the chief complaint of Angle class I malocclusion with crowding of more than 6 mm in the anterior tooth region. Two groups were formed with 70 patients in each group. In one group self-ligating brackets were used, while in other group conventional brackets were used. Malmgren's method was sued for evaluating the root resorption score ranging from 0 to 4. All the results were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. Chi-square test, nonpaired t-test, and paired t-test were used to evaluate the level of significance. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients in groups I and II was 13.92 and 13.81 years respectively. While comparing age of the patients and time duration of the treatment, no significant results were obtained. While comparing the root resorptions at various time intervals in groups I and II patients, significant results were obtained. While comparing the root resorptions in between groups I and II patients, no statistically significant results were obtained (p-value > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Statistically similar amount of resorption is seen in patients in both the groups either on self-ligating brackets or on conventional preadjusted brackets during treatment of Angle class I patients with severe anterior crowding. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: In treating anterior crowding patients with Angle class I patients, choice of brackets has no effect on the amount of root resorption.
