[Comparison of straight wire appliance versus edgewise appliance in orthodontic treatment outcome].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the difference between straight wire appliance and edgewise appliance treatment outcome.


METHODS
80 cases finished with two-arch straight wire or edgewise appliance between 1994 and 2001 were selected. The PAR index on pre- and post-treatment dental casts and PAR score was recorded respectively. According to the same pre-treatment PAR score and extraction pattern, the samples were divided into two groups, straight wire group and edgewise group, and each group had 40 cases. The data were analyzed statistically.


RESULTS
Estimated with the post-treatment PAR score of posterior teeth alignment, the treatment with straight wire appliance was lower than that with edgewise appliance (P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in other recorded PAR score between two groups. For the mean treatment duration, straight wire appliance (3.95 months) was shorter than edgewise appliance.


CONCLUSIONS
As for the posterior teeth alignment, the straight wire appliance was more accurate, and the straight wire appliance was more efficient than edgewise appliance.
Sun
Xiao-Wei
XW
Dept. of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, Peking University, Beijing 100081, China.
Xu
Tian-Min
TM
D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion; D009969:Orthodontic Wires; D016896:Treatment Outcome