Contribution of cone beam computed tomography to the detection of apical root resorption after orthodontic treatment in root-filled and vital teeth.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether root-filled teeth are similar to vital pulp teeth in terms of apical root resorption (ARR) after orthodontic treatment.


METHODS
An original sample of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 1256 roots from 30 orthodontic patients were analyzed. The inclusion criteria demanded root-filled teeth and their contralateral vital teeth, while teeth with history of trauma had to be excluded to comply with exclusion criteria. CBCT images of root-filled teeth were compared before and after orthodontic treatment in a split-mouth design study. Tooth measurements were made with multiplanar reconstruction using axial-guided navigation. The statistical difference between the treatment effects was compared using the paired t-test.


RESULTS
Twenty posterior root-filled teeth and their contralaterals with vital pulp were selected before orthodontic treatment from six adolescents (two boys and four girls; mean [SD] age 12.8 [1.8] years). No differences were detected between filled and vital root lengths before treatment (P  =  .4364). The mean differences in root length between preorthodontic and postorthodontic treatment in filled- and vital roots were -0.30 mm and -0.16 mm, respectively, without any statistical difference (P  =  .4197) between them.


CONCLUSIONS
There appears to be no increase in ARR after orthodontic treatment in root-filled teeth with no earlier ARR.
a   PhD student, private practice, Goiânia, Brazil.
Iury
I
Castro
b   Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil.
José
J
Valladares-Neto
c   Professor and Chairman, Department of Stomatologic Science, School of Dentistry, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil.
Carlos
C
Estrela
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D004708:Endodontics / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019227:Tooth Apex; D014092:Tooth Root
Cone beam computed tomography; Endodontics; Orthodontics; Root resorption