Obesity and orthodontic treatment: is there any direct relationship?

Abstract

Obesity is a wide-spread condition directly or indirectly connected with an increase in the prevalence of a variety of human diseases. It affects over 50% of the western overall population. In 2017, a thorough analysis of 204 studies on obesity and cancer revealed that the condition increases the risk of the following types of cancer: stomach, colon, rectal, bile duct, pancreatic, esophagus, breast, endometrial, ovarian, kidney and multiple myeloma. The first study aiming at establishing a connection between obesity and the rate of induced orthodontic tooth movement was conducted by Saloom et al; however, it could not effectively nor significantly reveal any direct influence or effect. Despite being identified during the first week, differences could not be explained and treatment time remained unchanged. In spite of lack of studies in the literature on the connection between obesity and the rate of induced tooth movement, in clinical practice, courses or specialized training, we should not have protocols changed nor adopt any measures or expect significant differences between normal-weight and obese individuals. It should be emphasized that unsuccessful cases or cases of root resorption associated with treatment should not be assigned to obesity, since scientific data is insufficient to do so.

Oleic acid-related anti-inflammatory effects in force-stressed PdL fibroblasts are mediated by H3 lysine acetylation associated with altered IL10 expression

“…The impact of increased body mass index (BMI) on orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) in children and adolescents is, however, controversial showing both reduced and increased OTM rates in different studies [38][39][40][41]. Obesity exhibits a very heterogeneous clinical pattern, which could explain the different findings, since only the BMI was used for obese classification.…”

Leptin levels in gingival crevicular fluid during canine retraction: in vivo comparative study

“…Obesity also affects systemic metabolism in bones through hormonal mechanical systems and inflammatory interactions, as well as by increasing mineral bone density. It has been demonstrated that tooth eruption speed is higher among obese individuals (Consolaro, 2017).…”

Impact of Leptin on Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts during Mechanical Strain

“…Obesity, as a possible result of poor diet and lack of exercise, is a growing problem in contemporary industrial societies [10]. Despite the high clinical relevance of this problem, there is not yet enough data to assess the impact of obesity on orthodontic tooth movement [11]. It is known that obesity negatively affects the entire organism due to favouring numerous diseases.…”

“…Obesity is now considered the second-most important factor after smoking for inflammation-related periodontal bone loss [16]. The most common hypothesis explains the above diseases with the increased secretion of adipokines by adipocytes [11]. Adipokines are endocrine proteins and have pro-inflammatory, but also inhibitory properties linking metabolism to the immune system [17].…”