Salivary Electrolytes in Patients with Metallic and Ceramic Orthodontic Brackets

Svrha: Iz postojeće literature poznato je da metalni ioni iz ortodontskih naprava mogu korodirati zbog djelovanja sline i bakterija u usnoj šupljini. Rezultati većine studija upućuju na to da se razina nikla i kroma u slini ne povisuje nakon postavljanja ortodontskih naprava. No nema istraživanja o razini titanija, kobalta, bakra i cinka u slini ortodontskih pacijenata. Ispitanici i postupci: Razina nikla (Ni), titanija (Ti), kroma (Cr), kobalta (Co), bakra (Cu) i cinka (Zn) mjerena je u slini četrdeset i dvoje pacijenta s keramičkim metalnim bravicama i isto toliko njih s konvencionalnima i to prije postavljanja ortodontskih naprava s pomoću induktivne spregnute plazme/masene spektrometrije i šest mjeseci poslije toga. U statističkoj analizi korištena su dva testa – Wilcoxonov signed rank i Mann-Whitneyev s razinom značajnosti od 0,05. Rezultati: Rezultati su pokazali da se razina titana u slini povisila šest mjeseci nakon postavljanja ortodontskih naprava. Razina kroma i cinka, pak, značajno se snizila nakon postavljanja ortodonskih naprava. Nije bilo statistički značajne razlike u razini nikla, titanija, kroma, bakra, kobalta i cinka u slini između pacijenata s metalnim i keramičkim ortotontskim bravicama. Zaključak: Možemo zaključiti da se razina titanija u slini značajno povisila šest mjeseci nakon postavljanja ortodontskih naprava za razliku od razine kroma i cinka koja se značajno snizila šest mjeseci poslije njihova postavljanja, bez obzira na vrstu korištenih bravica.Objectives: It is known from the existing literature that metal ions within orthodontic appliances are prone to corrosion due to the salivary and bacterial interplay in the oral cavity. The results from the most studies show that levels of salivary nickel and chromium do not increase after the installment of orthodontic appliances. Material and methods: However, there are no studies on salivary levels of titanium, cobalt, copper and zinc in these patients. Salivary levels of nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were measured in 42 patients with ceramic brackets and in 42 patients with metal conventional brackets prior to insertion of orthodontic appliances and six months after insertion of orthodontic appliances by means of inductive coupled plasma/mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis was performed by use of Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann Whitney test with level of significance set at 0.05. Results: The results showed that salivary level of titanium increased significantly six months after installment of orthodontic appliances. Salivary level of chromium and zinc significantly decreased after installment of orthodontic appliances. There were no significant differences in salivary levels of nickel, titanium, chromium, copper, cobalt and zinc between the patients with metallic and those with ceramic brackets. Conclusion: We might conclude that the salivary level of titanium increased significantly six months after installment of orthodontic appliances unlike salivary levels of chromium and zinc which significantly decreased after installment of orthodontic appliances, regardless of bracket type which was used