Severity and Treatment Difficulty of Impacted Maxillary Canine among Orthodontic Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The current study aimed to evaluate the severity and treatment difficulty of impacted maxillary canines and their relationship with gender, age group, and bucco-palatal position. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from 2017 to 2021. Patients' data and panoramic radiography were obtained from the orthodontic clinic at King Saud University's Dental University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The severity factors and treatment difficulty index were used to assess the impacted maxillary canines. Statistical analyses were performed utilizing a chi-square test for categorical variables and an independent t-test for numerical variables, and a p-value of ≤0.05. RESULTS: There were 171 impacted maxillary canines in total, with a female-to-male subject ratio (11:8) and a mean age (18.7 years). Overall, 77.2% of impacted upper canines were found to be palatal. The severity of canine impaction parameters showed no significant sex or age group predilection. Buccally impacted maxillary canines were characterized by a preferable angulation to the midline, compared to the palatally impacted maxillary canines (p = 0.012). The horizontal overlap of the impacted maxillary canine cusp tip revealed a significant association with the bucco-palatal position of the impacted canine (p < 0.001). Palatal impaction was located more frequently in sectors 3 and 4. Male patients were found to have a higher total score in terms of the treatment difficulty index relative to females (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: Despite the severity parameters having revealed no significant gender predilection, males were found to have higher treatment difficulty in maxillary canine impaction than females. The severity of the palatally impacted canine is greater than that of buccal impaction in terms of angulation to the midline and horizontal overlap.

The effect of low intensity pulsed ultrasound on dentoalveolar structures during orthodontic force application in diabetic ex-vivo model.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on the dentoalveolar structures during orthodontic force application in ex-vivo model using mandible slice organ culture (MSOC) of diabetic rats. DESIGN: 18 male Wistar rats with a mean weight (275 g) were randomly divided into three main groups: 1) normal rats, 2) Insulin treated diabetic rats, and 3) diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced by streptozotocin. Four weeks later, rats were euthanized, mandibles were dissected, divided into 1.5-mm slices creating mandible slice organ cultures (MSOCs). MSOCs were cultured at 37 °C in air with 5 % CO2. The following day, orthodontic spring delivering a 50-g of force was applied to each slice. In each group, rats were randomly assigned to 2 subgroups; one received 10 min of LIPUS daily and the other was the control. Culture continued for 7 days, and then the sections were prepared for histological and histomorphometric analysis. RESULTS: For all study groups (Normal, Insulin Treated Diabetic and Diabetic), LIPUS treatment significantly increased the thickness of predentin, cementum, and improved bone remodeling on the tension side and increased odontoblast, sub-odontoblast, and periodontal ligaments cell counts and bone resorption lacunae number on the compression side. CONCLUSIONS: Application of LIPUS treatment for 10 min daily for a week enhanced bone remodeling and repair of cementum and dentin in normal as well as diabetic MSOCs.