Contribution of cone beam computed tomography to the detection of apical root resorption after orthodontic treatment in root-filled and vital teeth

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether root-filled teeth are similar to vital pulp teeth in terms of apical root resorption (ARR) after orthodontic treatment. Materials and 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. Conclusion: There appears to be no increase in ARR after orthodontic treatment in root-filled teeth with no earlier ARR.