Increased interpremolar development with self-ligating orthodontics. A prospective randomized clinical trial.

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics
• Dental Arch Development

Background:

• Compressed dental arches with mild to moderate crowding require space for tooth alignment.
• Orthodontic treatment aims to improve tooth position and arch form.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare transverse dental arch measurements before and after alignment.
• To evaluate the effects of passive self-ligating brackets (Damon System) versus conventional brackets (Roth philosophy) on transverse dimensions.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 24 patients (aged 13-36) with 4-6 mm of crowding.
• Measurements of transverse dental arch diameters were taken from dental casts before and after the alignment phase.
• Patients were divided into two groups: Group A (passive self-ligating brackets) and Group B (conventional brackets).

Main Results:

• Both bracket systems increased the transverse diameter of the dental arches.
• The increase in distance between upper first premolars was significantly greater in Group B (conventional brackets).
• Intercanine distance increased significantly more with conventional orthodontics compared to self-ligating orthodontics.

Conclusions:

• Both passive self-ligating and conventional brackets effectively align teeth in mild to moderate crowding by increasing arch width.
• Self-ligating orthodontics demonstrated significantly greater expansion in the interpremolar area.
• Conventional orthodontics resulted in a more significant increase in intercanine distance.