Radiographic evaluation of apical root resorption following fixed orthodontic treatment

Apical root resorption is an adverse side effect of fixed orthodontic treatment which cannot be repaired. The aim of this study was to use panoramic radiographs to compare the root resorption before and after the orthodontic treatment with standard edgewise. 018 appliance.

The before and after treatment panoramic views of sixty-three patients needed fixed orthodontic treatment included 1520 teeth were categorized into 3 Grades (G0: without resorption, G1: mild resorption with blunt roots or ≤ 1/4 of root length, G2: moderate to severe resorption or > 1/4 to 1/2 of root length. Relationship between root resorption and sex and treatment duration was analyzed with Mann-whitney and Spearman's correlation coefficient, respectively.

The findings showed that 345 teeth were categorized as Grade 1. Grade 2 of root resorption was not found in this study. The highest amount of root resorption was recorded for the mandibular lateral incisor. In both gender, the root resorption of the mandible was more than that of the maxilla. The males showed significantly higher rate of resorption than the females (P<0.05). Root resorption was not significantly related to the treatment duration and the side of the jaws (P>0.05).

The mandible and male patients showed higher amount of root resorption. In addition, root resorption was not related to the treatment duration and the side of the jaws.