Is Orthodontic Treatment a Risk Factor of Cervical Root Resorption? A Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Dentistry and Oral Health
• Orthodontics
• Periodontology

Background:

• Cervical root resorption is an aggressive external resorption affecting permanent teeth, often presenting with pink tooth discoloration.
• The etiology of cervical root resorption is unclear, with orthodontic treatment proposed as a potential contributing factor.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review existing literature to determine if orthodontic treatment is a risk factor for cervical root resorption in patients treated with fixed appliances.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive systematic review of electronic and manual searches across four databases and six journals.
• Included studies were assessed for risk of bias using Cochrane RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools.
• Evidence quality was evaluated using the GRADE approach.

Main Results:

• Two randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and one cohort study were included, all with high or critical risk of bias.
• Conflicting results were reported: RCTs indicated significant differences, while the cohort study found no association between fixed orthodontic treatment and cervical root resorption.
• The overall quality of evidence was judged to be very low.

Conclusions:

• Orthodontic treatment may potentially induce cervical root resorption.
• Due to high bias and conflicting findings in current studies, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn.
• Further high-quality research is necessary to establish a causal link and understand the role of orthodontic treatment in cervical root resorption.