Effects of Laser Application on Leveling Efficiency Using Different Orthodontic Archwires

Abstract

Purpose: to evaluate the effect of low level laser on leveling and alignment by using two types of orthodontic archwires. Materials and methods: A consecutive sample of 32 patients requiring fixed orthodontic appliances were grouped into four groups: laser group with 0.014 inch copper NiTi wire, laser group with 0.014 inch superelastic NiTi wire, 0.014 inch copper NiTi wire group without laser, 0.014 inch superelastic NiTi wire group without laser. Directly after the first arch wire insertion the investment group received a LLLT dose (laser application group of patients). The LLLT device was adjusted to 635 nm wavelength and with 2.2 J/point (energy dosage). There were four points of application regarding each mandibular incisor’s root, two of them are buccal and the other two points are palatal. This laser dosage was applied repeatedly on 7, 14 and 28 days for each patient in the laser group. The evaluation of alignment by studying four casts taken along the initial stage of treatment (before treatment T0, Two weeks T1, four weeks T2 and six weeks T3 of treatment). Results: Statistical analysis between the groups revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the four groups at four different intervals (T0-T1), (T1-T1), (T2-T3) and (T0-T3) (P-value = 0.813, 0.601, 0.646, 0.340) respectively. Conclusion: The two forms of NiTi wires (superelastic NiTi wire and Cu NiTi wire) during the alignment process in the initial stage of the treatment were the same regarding the efficiency of alignment, either with or without laser application, and for the acceleration of the tooth movement in orthodontics the application of LLLT wasn’t effective during the initial aligning stage of orthodontic treatment either with superelasti NiTi wire or Cu NiTi wire.