Objective This study aimed to investigate the effect of micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) on external apical root resorption (EARR) during the initial orthodontic alignment phase of maxillary anterior crowding. Methods Thirty patients (25 females, 5 males; mean age, 22.66 ± 3.27 years) who presented with moderate crowding of the upper labial segment and underwent extraction-based fixed appliance treatment were recruited. They were randomly allocated to receive adjunctive therapy with MOPs (n = 15) or treatment with fixed appliances only (control group; n = 15). EARR was measured from long-cone periapical radiographs taken at the start and the sixth month of treatment. A correction factor for the enlargement difference was used to calculate EARR. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The mean root lengths of 168 teeth were measured and showed no statistically significant difference ( p > 0.05) after six months of fixed appliance treatment in the MOP (mean difference [MD] = 0.13 mm; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.10–0.35) and control group (MD = 0.14 mm; 95% CI = −0.10–0.37). Most of the roots in the MOP and control groups (42.86% and 52.38%, respectively) showed only mild resorption. Less than 8% of the roots in both groups (7.14% in the MOP group and 4.76% in the control group) showed moderate resorption. Conclusions Acceleration of orthodontic tooth movement with adjunctive MOPs therapy during the alignment phase does not exacerbate EARR in patients with moderate crowding of the upper labial segment in comparison with controls.

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Objetive: The objective of this clinical trial was to investigate the perception of pain during initial maxillary alignment with an adjunctive procedure of micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) compared to conventional orthodontics. Material and methods: This study design was a single-centre, two-arm parallel prospective randomised clinical trial. Thirty consecutive adult subjects (25 females and 5 males; mean age ± SD, 22.66 ± 3.27 years) with 5-8mm moderate upper labial segment crowding were randomly allocated using block randomisation into intervention and control group. All subjects had first premolar extractions, bonded conventional fixed appliances and 0.014-inch nickel-titanium archwire was placed for initial alignment. The intervention group received a 3-mm deep MOPs procedure under local anaesthesia using a Propel device (PROPEL Ortho Singapore) on the labiogingival aspect between the maxillary incisors. Both groups received a set of 100 mm visual analogue scale to complete over the first week, recording pain at 24 hours, 3 days and 1 week. Data were analysed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: There was a statistically significant difference observed in perceived pain levels between MOPs and the control group on day 1, day 3 and day 7 postoperatively. Pain perception was significantly lower in the intervention group at all time points. Conclusion: Accelerating orthodontic tooth movement with MOPs did not accentuate pain perceived during initial maxillary alignment with fixed appliances.