2 articles
Aesthetic and functional considerations have always been the main concerns in the orthodontic treatment of dentoalveolar malocclusions. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the use of wide and extra-wide archwires in reducing treatment time, compared with conventional archwire therapy.
A retrospective cohort study was performed. A total of 180 patients aged between 14 and 36 years old were enrolled and divided into two groups: a classical treatment group, including standard NiTi/SS archwires (n=100), and an alternative treatment group with wide and extra-wide CuNiTi/TA/TMA/SS archwires (n=80). The treatment period, estimated in months, was considered the primary outcome. As secondary outcomes, inter-canine, inter-premolar, and inter-molar widths were estimated.
The duration of treatment in the Alternative group was 20.2 ± 4.4 months, with a median of 19.0 months (range: 12–38 months), while the Classic group showed a mean treatment duration of 28.9 ± 5.2 months, a median of 30.0 months (range: 14–39 months), with a mean difference of 8.7 months. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in treatment duration between the two protocols (Mann–Whitney U = 863, p < 0.001), with a large effect size (rrb = −0.78; 95% CI: −0.84 to −0.71), indicating practical relevance.
Regarding secondary outcomes, transverse maxillary measurements, including inter-canine, inter-premolar, and inter-molar widths, showed similar changes before and after treatment in both groups. The available data did not provide sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis about the differences between the groups for these parameters, with no clinically meaningful differences.
The application of wide and extra-wide archwires represents an effective orthodontic approach associated with reduced treatment duration, while preserving satisfactory occlusal stability and ensuring a favorable level of patient comfort.
Surface electromyography has proven to be a useful instrument for the assessment of success rate for different dental treatments. However, due to numerous variables that may influence the data like age, gender, fat tissue thickness etc. it is necessary to adjust the obtained values to a reference group with the same parameters.
A number of 33 patients were included in the study (21 women and 12 men) aged between 43-67 years old (mean 54± SD1.26). Surface electromyography of masticatory muscles was used in these patients to assess the average value in a time span and overlapping coefficients. Totally 10 parameters from each patient were recorded: TAL, TAR, MML, MMR, PocTA, PocMM, BAR, Asym, TORS, Impact. Data were stored in an Excel spreadsheet and then analyzed statistically using RStudio software.
Based on the results of our study, the main EMG activity indices in middle-aged Moldavian individuals had the following values: for the left temporalis (TAL) was 42 µV, median 18.8 with a minimum of 3.8 and a maximum of 190 µV. For the right temporalis (TAR) the mean was 51.4 µV, median – 32.9, a minimal value of 7.9 and a maximum of 248 µV. The left masseter had a mean of 48.7 µV, median 12.3, a minimal value of 1.5 and a maximum value of 439 µV. The right masseter had a mean of 42.1 µV, a median of 16.3, minimum value 11.4 and maximum 243 µV. The overlapping coefficients deviated with 20.5% from the normal range provided by the manufacturer.
Electromyographic activity of masticatory muscles in healthy patients can be used for comparison with patients that had various dental treatment but have the same age, gender, ethnicity, etc. The overlapping coefficients did not perfectly match in the normal range provided by manufacturer even if these subjects had previously minimum dental procedures.