Vitamin E enriched diet increases the rate of orthodontic tooth movement

Abstract

Vitamin E is a popular antioxidant suggested to affect bone turnover. However, the effects of a vitamin E enriched diet on the rate of tooth movement are unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate tooth movement in rats receiving a vitamin E enriched diet. In addition, we examined bone remodeling in experimental and control rats. Thirty-two 6-week-old male rats were divided into 4 groups: (1) group 1 (n= 8): orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) for 4 days+ regular diet; (2) group 2 (n= 8): OTM for 14 days+ regular diet; (3) group 3 (n= 8): OTM for 4 days+ vitamin E diet; and (4) group 4 (n= 8) - OTM for 14 days+ vitamin E diet. Maxillary alveolar bones and femurs of rats were analyzed by microcomputed tomography and histology. Rats fed a vitamin E diet presented an increased OTM rate at days 4 and 14. We found an increased number of osteoclasts and decreased bone volume in the vitamin E diet group at day 14 of OTM. In addition, there was increased expression of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor in the alveolar bone of the vitamin E diet group. In contrast, there was no difference in bone remodeling in femurs or alveolar bone at the control side. We found that an enriched vitamin E diet increases the rate of OTM in rats, suggesting that vitamin E may be useful as an avenue to accelerate OTM.