ABSTRACT
The fixed orthodontic measures taken induce significant stress to the gingival growth process during arch wire maneuvers of aligning and leveling. We observed, for a period of one to four years, fixed orthodontic devices in 80 human subjects. From these, we selected 44 subjects (22 women and 22 men) where the inflammatory process exhibited following the orthodontic fixed treatment, and with vacuum-formed orthodontic retainers (VFR) succeeding to fixed treatment. Samples were collected from each patient and histological and immunohistochemical (IHC) methodology was made to analyze the cytoarchitecture. Statistics were made after one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the Bonferroni's correction. The IHC examination performed in the early stage revealed the presence in the inflammatory infiltrate of CD8-type T-lymphocytes, and of dendritic cells in large numbers. The examination performed in the late stage revealed the presence in the inflammatory infiltrate of CD20-type B-lymphocytes, which are mature cells capable of immunoglobulin synthesis, their activation being an important step in the maturation of the antibody response. The stress generated by arch wires in both genders was significantly higher than in the case of VFR. This observation was pointed out also by the cytohistological investigation outcome but was also based on an original scale conceived by our research team, following gingival hyperplasia evaluation. Also, with statistical significance, the comparative obtained values for men (p=0.01) and for women (p=0.001) illustrate clinical observations, allowing to affirm that, in our case, men were more stressed in bearing arch wire devices (AWD) and VFR, in comparison with women.
