Perception of Pain and Discomfort from Two Types of Orthodontic Braces
Asta Shomberg
Orthodontic procedures are often accompanied by pain and discomfort. Since the orthodontic treatment causes some degree of suffering for the patients, it is important for orthodontists to explore all possibilities of avoiding, reducing or alleviating pain in orthodontics.
Pain is a subjective response, which is difficult to measure. It shows large individual variations, which depend upon patient’s age, gender, individual pain threshold, cultural differences, present emotional state, etc. In spite of this, patients’ responses to different types of arch-wire or separators, two types of orthodontic appliances, have been investigated and described in the literature.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical properties of two types of orthodontic brackets with regard to pain and discomfort experienced by patients. Nonparametric statistical tests were employed to compare pain perception levels in two groups of orthodontic patients. The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in pain levels due to the difference of bracket type. Further objectives of the study were to examine the association between perception of pain and gender, teeth discrepancy index, size of arch-wire and presence of extractions.
