[Arguments and counter-arguments about the orthodontic treatment of missing incisors. Literature review]

An article of Czochrowska, Skaare, Stenvik and Zachrisson was published about the possibilities of orthodontic treatment of missing upper central incisors, in the American Journal of Orthodontics, in July 2003. This article generated a heavy discussion among the readers of this periodical. A lot of orthodontists published their pros and cons about the advantages and disadvantages of orthodontic space closure. The purpose of this review is to collect the opinions and arguments about the topic from the orthodontic literature. There are some long-term, follow-up studies which compared the results of the orthodontic and prosthetic solutions after the treatment of missing upper incisors. The better-known studies are Nordquist and McNeil' s work published in the Journal of Periodontology (1975) and the publication of Robertsson and Mohlin published in the European Journal of Orthodontics (2000). The long-term studies argued that from the aspect of patients' satisfaction and periodontal or functional evaluation the orthodontic treatments ensured better results than either the prosthodontic or implantological approaches. These statements are contentious by a lot of experts and so it is important to review all the aspects of this topic.