Treatment Efficiency of Conventional vs. Self-ligating Lingual Brackets
In-Kyu Kyung1 , Oh-Won Kwon2 , Hee-Moon Kyung2
1 Gai Dental Clinic, Seoul
2 Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
Purposes: To investigate the time-saving effect of self-ligating lingual brackets on lingual archwire change by comparing ligation time and removal time between self-ligating lingual brackets and conventional lingual brackets.
Materials & Methods: Two conventional lingual brackets (Fujita and K-2in1) and two self-ligating lingual brackets (Evolution and Clippy-L) were selected, and ligation time and ligation removal time by 14 orthodontists were recorded. For conventional lingual brackets, only elastomeric O-ring ligatures in lingual slots were used. Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate the difference between ligation and ligation removal time, and the effect of existence of crowding. Kruskal-Wallis test with Duncan post hoc test were used to examine the time differences in terms of bracket designs.
Results: Under all circumstances, the time required for self-ligating lingual brackets was shorter than that of conventional lingual brackets. Time saving effect of self-ligating lingual brackets was the most significant when ligating crowding model. Modified design of conventional lingual brackets with hook contributed to reduce ligation and removal time. Presence of assistant helped to increase efficiency of ligation time on conventional lingual brackets, though still time-consuming compared with self-ligating lingual brackets.
Conclusion: Self-ligating lingual brackets improve treatment efficiency by shortening archwire change time and needlessness of chairside assistant. Clinical efficiency of self-ligating lingual brackets should be evaluated in further studies considering various costs and benefits.
Key words: Self-ligating lingual bracket, Lingual bracket design, Treatment efficiency, Ligation time
Korean J Lingual Orthod 2016;5(1):18-26
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