Prevalence and type of pain during conventional and self-ligating orthodontic treatment

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and type of pain experienced during orthodontic treatment in 30 subjects (12 males, 18 females, aged 12-18 years) with crowding. Fifteen patients were treated with conventional brackets (Victory Series) and 15 with self-ligating brackets (Damon SL II). The first archwire for all patients was a 0.014 inch nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwire with a force of approximately 100 g. Conventional brackets were ligated with elastomeric modules. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used daily to assess the intensity of pain; the use of pain medication was also reported in a specially designed daybook for a total period of 3 months. Pearson's chi-square was used to investigate the difference between groups in the frequency of pain experience, its nature, and the use of analgesia. Non-parametric statistics (Mann-Whitney U-test) were computed to compare pain intensity between the groups. To investigate reported pain assessments, Friedman's two-way analysis of variance was used and the differences were estimated using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. The results showed that pain was reported for a period of 9 days after archwire insertion. Patients treated with self-ligating brackets reported the highest pain intensity on the day following placement of the first archwire (VAS mean = 42.6), while those treated with conventional brackets experienced the greatest pain intensity at placement of the first archwire (VAS mean = 52) and after the second orthodontic appointment (VAS mean = 59.6). Analgesics were used by 16.5 per cent of patients treated with self-ligating brackets and by 10 per cent of those treated with conventional brackets, most often during the first 2 days after archwire placement. Patients treated with conventional brackets reported significantly more 'constant' pain than those treated with self-ligating brackets who complained of 'chewing/biting' pain. Pain appears to be common during orthodontic treatment but perhaps less intense when self-ligating brackets are used, although no difference was observed in the use of analgesics between those treated with self-ligating or conventional brackets. There were no reports of pain after 7-9 days in either group.

Penyerapan Akar Gigi Apeks Luaran Hasil Rawatan Ortodontik Pada Enam dan 12 Bulan

“…Pada tahap akut, rawatan ortodontik boleh menyebabkan kesakitan dan keradangan gusi (Erdinç & Dinçer 2004;Long et al 2013;Tecco et al 2009), mengganggu pertuturan (Long et al 2013) dan menyebabkan penyakit periodontal (Karkhanechi et al 2013). Walau bagaimanapun, kajian terhadap kesan jangka masa panjang rawatan ortodontik menunjukkan tiada perbezaan yang ketara dalam kejadian karies, penyakit periodontal atau kehilangan gigi antara individu yang mendapatkan dan tidak mendapatkan rawatan ortodontik (Thomson 2002) .…”

Causes of Orthodontic Pain & its treatment: an overview

“…Although the pain reported after the placement of self-ligating bracket system was found to be less continuous as compared to conventional bracket system 11 . Pain is a subjective response, which shows large individual variations 12 .…”

An assessment of conventional and self-ligating brackets in Class I maxillary constriction patients

“…On the other hand, some studies indicated that selfligating brackets were superior to conventional brackets regarding pain experience. 23,24 Although lower friction and force level with self-ligating brackets has been emphasized by in vitro studies, the reflection of this force to dental arches has not been conclusively proven. 25,26 Moreover, pain experience is related to several subjective factors, which can differ among the subjects.…”