Alveolar Bone After Intrusion and Retraction of Anterior Teeth: Fractional Dimensional Analysis

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate changes in the trabecular structure of alveolar bone in maxillary incisors segment after maxillary incisor intrusion and retraction with fixed orthodontic treatment in adult patients using fractal dimensional analysis (FD). Methods: This study was conducted using a digital panoramic radiograph of 30 patients (Age Group 18 - 25 years) with class II malocclusion with maxillary incisor protrusion treated with intrusion and retraction of anterior teeth. Panoramic radiographs were taken with standard protocols at the three different periods, before orthodontic treatment (T0), immediately after alignment but before intrusion and retraction (T1), and after intrusion & retraction of anterior teeth (T2). Regions of interest were located between the apices of maxillary incisors. Findings: Fractal dimension (FD) was calculated using ImageJ software. Repeated Measure ANOVA test; indicates significant difference at p0.05. FD values of the alveolar bone of maxillary incisors at T0 were 1.312  0.09, which reduced to 1.273  0.10 at T1 and again increased to 1.325  0.07 at T2. This overall change in FD values was significant (p=0.050. Novelty: The study revealed that, during orthodontic tooth movement, the alveolar bone around the teeth was reduced. However, after a period of bone recovery, the reduced bone density recovered to its previous state from before the orthodontic treatment. Keywords: Alveolar bone; Bone trabeculae; Fractal analysis; Orthodontic tooth movement; Panaromic radiograph