[Miniscrews during the retention phase: indications, therapeutic means and effects]

Even if miniscrews are mainly used in the active phase, their uses during the contention have been reported for a few years either by installation of miniscrews de novo or by taking advantage of miniscrews inserted during the active phase. The objective of this article is to describe the uses - reported in the literature - of miniscrews during the retention phase. We have conducted a research from the database PubMed with keywords associations. Nineteen articles were found with three indications: to temporarily replace toothlessness while awaiting the final prosthetic solution at the end of growth while maintaining bone level; to contain open-bite treatments in order to avoid as much as possible the relapse; to improve the comfort and aesthetics of Hawley plate. This prospect of using miniscrews after active treatment further opens up the field of possibilities. However, there is the problem of osteointegration and bone damage caused by the removal of miniscrews linked to the maintenance of miniscrews over the long term.