Pulp stones following orthodontic treatment: a case-control study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of pulp stones (PS) after orthodontic treatment. With a case-control design, 49 patients from a private orthodontic clinic in Curitiba, PR, Brazil, of both sexes, aged between 14 and 26 years, undergoing orthodontic intervention between the years 2000 and 2020, participated. Premolars and molars were analyzed from initial and final panoramic radiographs. Demographic and clinical data were collected from the patients’ medical records. After the initial descriptive analysis, followed by the t test for independent samples, the Chi-square test was applied to search for possible associations between the explanatory variables and the outcome of interest (post-treatment PS). Values with a significant difference were those with p < 0.05. Nineteen cases and 30 controls participated, namely 26 men and 23 women. There was no difference between groups for the age (p = 0.114) and treatment time (p = 0.204). Significant differences did not occur between cases and controls in association with the other variables (p > 0.05). In conclusion, there was no increase in PS incidence after orthodontic treatment in the sample studied.

Effects of Orthodontic Treatment on Pulp Stone Formation: A Retrospective Study

“…Generally, it has been reported that as age increases, the frequency of pulp stones also increases [31], whereas a study on orthodontic patients revealed no association between pulp stones and age [27]. On the other hand, our results showed a negative association between age and the frequency of pulp stones, which was in agreement with the results of Ertas et al [25].…”

“…In this study similar to several studies, there was no statistically discernible difference in the incidence of pulp stones before orthodontic treatment among genders [25][26][27]; in contrast, Afsari et al, in a retrospective cross-sectional study, investigated the number of pulp stones prior and following to orthodontic treatment using radiographs of patients undergoing orthodontic and nonorthodontic treatment. They found a significant relationship between gender and pulp stones because females had considerable changes in the number of pulp stones [30].…”

“…According to the literature, the mean treatment length arising from the 22 included studies considering 1089 participants was 19.9 months taking less than two years to complete comprehensive orthodontic treatment [32]. Nevertheless, the mean treatment duration of patients with pulp stones was approximately three years and a half, and we found a significant relationship between the treatment length and the frequency of pulp stones, while others did not find any correlation or did not investigate patients with prolonged treatment length [27,30].…”

“…Ramazanzadeh et al also reported no significant relationship between tooth movement type and histological changes in dental pulp [20]. In another study on variables that differed between patients with pulp stones and controls, the authors looked into the data regarding accessory appliances used for maintenance or strength of teeth, and no significant association was found with the outcome [27]. In addition, no differences were observed between the arch and the facial sides.…”

“…Their results were similar to the current study; however, our rate of increase was higher which might be due to the fact that we did not exclude the patients who had undergone extraction orthodontic treatment. In contrast, another 2022 case-control study evaluated patients undergoing orthodontic treatment and found no discernible differences between pulp stone incidence and orthodontic treatment [27]. Moreover, Sarang did not find any significant increase in posttreatment radiographs either [28].…”