Psycho-social impact of malocclusion in patients seeking orthodontic treatment

Background: The present study was conducted for assessing Psycho-social effects of malocclusion in patients seeking orthodontic treatment. Materials & methods: 30 subjects seeking orthodontic treatment were enrolled in the present study. All the subjects were pre-informed about the study protocol. Study consisted of collection of information for psychosocial assessment using a questionnaire and clinical examination of malocclusion. Data regarding psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics was collected using a Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire. The responses were recorded by the examiner himself using the appropriate codes. All the oral examination procedures were carried out using sterile gloves, mouth mirror, tweezer and probe. Results: Out of the 30 children examined, there were 63.33% (19) males and 36.67% (19) females. The mean age of the subjects examined was 13.96 years. On the whole, the mean Dental self-confidence score differed significantly among both male and female children across the age groups. Overall, the mean social impact score did not differ significantly among both male and female subjects across the age groups. Conclusion: Dental aesthetics have a significant impact on the psychosocial aspects of human life

Micro sensors in orthopeadic appliances: for monitoring appliance Wear-Review

Orthopaedic appliances are designed to transfer forces to facial skeleton as directly as possible. These appliances effectively influence bone growth and sutural changes which when given in growing age favourably alters the continuing facial growth pattern. The primary objective is to correct the skeletal imbalance; correction of the malocclusion is relatively secondary in importance. Yet the success of orthodontics mainly depends on the retention which aims to stabilize the treatment in optimal aesthetic and functional positions.  The aim of the present writing is to review the usage of micro sensors in the orthopaedic appliances in order to monitor their wear and thus finds a way to stabilize treatment results.&nbsp

A comparative study on conventional ligation and self ligation bracket systems: An original research

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the comparison between conventional ligation and self-ligation bracket system. Methodology: Seven hundred and sixty two patients, consecutively treated with fixed appliances, were evaluated retrospectively. All patients were treated by one orthodontist in a private orthodontic practice. Three hundred and eighty three patients were treated using a conventional pre-adjusted bracket system and 379 patients were treated with active self-ligating brackets. The total treatment time, number of appointments, appointment intervals, number of bracket breakages and number of unscheduled emergency appointments were recorded. Pretreatment characteristics identified by the ICON were related to these variables. Results: The average treatment duration was 15.7 months (Range: 4.1–40.5 months; SD: 5.6 months). Comparable amounts of time were spent in rectangular and round archwires by both appliances. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference between the durations of treatment with active self-ligating brackets and conventional pre-adjusted brackets. The number of debonded brackets and other emergency visits was significantly higher in patients treated with active self-ligating brackets. The treatment characteristics associated with prolonged treatment were: extraction of teeth, a Class II molar relationship and the degree of maxillary crowding or spacing.&nbsp

Evaluation of cervical vertebral maturation angular measurements as a tool to assess skeletal maturity: A radiological study

Aim: The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the comparison between the Skeletal Maturation phases of Fishman's hand–wrist skeletal maturation index (SMI) and cervical vertebral maturation angle (CVMA). Methodology: Assessment and comparison of Skeletal Maturation utilizing the hand–wrist bone radiograph by Fishman's system of skeletal maturation indicator (SMI), cervical vertebra maturation stages (CVMS), and lateral cephalogram by cervical vertebral maturation angle (CVMA) conducted on 150 subjects (75 male and 75 female). Chi-square was used to reveal the significance of study parameters on a categorical scale between SMI, CVMS, CVMA, and multiple regression analysis conducted to envisage the connotation of the dependent variable. Results: Multiple regression analysis models exhibited 61.9% of the variance for CVMA with autonomous variables. In multiple regression analysis, there is no substantial association (P > 0.05) between age and CVMA. The correlation of SMI and CVMA values utilizing Pearson's correlation coefficient for males and females presented positive association with R value of 0.801 for males and 0.834 for females and a P value of < 0.001. Conclusion: As compared to other maturity indicators like hand and wrist, cervical vertebral angular measurements were reliable enough for assessing the degree of skeletal maturation

Changes in soft tissue variable of lips following retraction of anterioir teeth- A cephalometric study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term perioral soft tissue variations of the lips before and after treatment cases in 15 patients with bi-maxillary protrusion using treated lateral cephalograms who had already achieved active growth. Methodology: Fifteen pre-treatment and post-treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs of 18–25-year-old individuals with bimaxillary protrusion treated with all four 1st premolar extractions were accessed from the records. From the reference planes and landmarks, 13 horizontal, 10 vertical, and 2 angular measurements were noted. Statistical comparisons between pre-treatment and post-treatment measurements were measured by a paired t-test to assess the importance of the mean variations at the predetermined significance level. Pearson's correlation coefficient (R) was utilized to assess the strength and significance of the linear relationship between the mean differences for paired (dependent and independent) variables. Results: Pearson's correlation exhibited a noteworthy positive association between the horizontal changes in upper lip position and the horizontal changes of the upper incisor tip point (H-tU1) (R = 0.748), the upper incisor cervical point (H-cU1) (R = 0.707), the lower incisor tip point (H-tL1) (R = 0.839), and the lower incisor cervical point (H-cL1) (R = 0.767). This indicated that upper lip changes are the aftermath of the retraction of the upper and lower incisors in class I bi-maxillary protrusion malocclusion. Conclusion: Thick upper lips showed more retraction of the upper lip in correlation with retraction of the incisors as compared with thin lips. The lower incisor cervical point displayed the strongest association with lower lip retraction