Maxillary Expansion: A Comparison of Damon Self-Ligating Bracket Therapy with MARPE and PAOO

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate arch parameters and dentoalveolar changes from pretreatment to posttreatment by comparing the Miniscrew Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (MARPE), Periodontally Accelerated Osteogenic Orthodontics (PAOO), and Damon self-ligating bracket therapies.

Materials and Methods

Seventy-nine patients underwent maxillary expansion followed by or in conjunction with Damon (n = 23), PAOO (n = 28), and MARPE (n = 28) therapies. Nine maxillary dental arch parameters were compared at pretreatment, posttreatment as well as, increments of treatment change. Measurements were made on STL study casts using 3Shape Ortho Analyzer 3D scanner software.

Results

All groups showed significant posterior width increase in the molar area. The mean increase in inter-molar distance was more than 8X greater in MARPE group compared to Damon and more than 4X greater compared to PAOO. MARPE showed significantly greater increments of change in inter-molar width and palatal vault area.

Conclusions

All groups showed a significant width increase in the canine and molar area. MARPE showed the greatest increase in inter-molar width, followed by PAOO and Damon. MARPE was the only group to show a significant increase in palatal vault area.

Digital orthodontic indirect bonding systems: A new wave

Digital technologies are progressing with leaps and bounds and the field of orthodontics is not untouched by it, with innovations like intraoral scanners and 3D printers being easy to own and maintain and increased availability of biocompatible 3D printing materials orthodontist are curious to use this technology to improve orthodontic bracket positioning which would require minimal to no repositioning during the course of treatment. The authors here have tried to outline 2 different methods using CBCT and VTO as guide to decide the bracket positioning digitally and using 3D printed Indirect Bonding trays for orthodontic bonding.

Bone regeneration after alveolar dehiscence due to orthodontic tooth movement – A case report

This article presents the orthodontic treatment of a 15 year old male patient with an Angle class I malocclusion with a class II skeletal base, lower incisor proclination along with a hyperdivergent facial pattern. Such situations that involve camouflage treatment, usually results in further lower incisor proclination which can be reduced to an extent by adding buccal root torque. Placement of additional torque in this case however, resulted in positioning of the root apex of the lower right lateral incisor outside the alveolar housing, although no gingival signs were present. The mechanics were then reversed and at the end of 21 months of treatment, the apices were back within the alveolar housing. A 4-year post-treatment cone-beam computed tomography showed normal bone coverage of the affected tooth; and no clinical signs of gingival pathology were present. Orthodontists should be aware of possible complications of excessively torqueing lower incisors in order to prevent proclination. If root apices are inadvertently moved through the cortex, a good long-term prognosis is possible using orthodontics alone by reversing the mechanics, if no gingival complications are present.

Variations in bracket placement in the preadjusted orthodontic appliance

This study was conducted to determine the accuracy of bracket placement with the direct bonded technique. Ten orthodontic faculty members bonded a preadjusted orthodontic appliance on models of five cases of malocclusion in a simulated clinical situation (mannequin). A total of 50 sets of models served as the population of the study. Photographs of the models were measured to determine vertical and angular discrepancies in position between adjacent bracket pairs from a constructed reference line. Variations are evaluated with respect to the classification of malocclusion, specific tooth type, and intra/inter operator differences. A mean of 0.34 mm for the vertical discrepancies and a mean of 5.54 degrees for the angular discrepancies are found in placement of the orthodontic brackets.