A Prospective Randomized Controlled study to Assess the Efficiency of Active Self Ligating Bracket System Vs Conventional Bracket System

AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to compare the alignment efficiency, the transverse arch dimensional changes and the torque expression between Dual activation self ligating bracket system and Conventional bracket system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve consecutive patients who met the selection criteria were included in the study from a pool of patients satisfying the following inclusion criteria: all first bicuspid extraction in the maxillary and mandibular arches; permanent dentition; irregularity index of greater than 2 and no therapeutic intervention planned with any other extra oral or intra oral appliance. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of six each- SLB group and Conventional group, both with Roth 0.022 –in slots. The irregularity index of both maxillary and mandibular arches were normalized between the groups, and the time taken for alignment was estimated in weeks. Treatment duration was assessed by data modeling with the Mann Whitney U test. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were used to assess the alteration of mandibular incisor position before and after alignment. Measurements of inter canine, inter second premolar and inter molar widths were also made on the dental study models to evaluate the transverse dimensional changes associated with the bracket systems. RESULTS: There was statistically significant difference in the time required to correct the crowding with the Dual activation SLB system. A significant difference of 6 weeks was seen in the total time taken showing lesser time taken for alignment in the Self Ligating brackets. No difference was found in the torque expression for both bracket groups for this parameter. In the transverse plane, no statistically significant difference was found in between the SLB and the conventional bracket. CONCLUSION: A reduction in the duration time taken for the Dual activation self ligating bracket was significantly lower when compared to the conventional bracket system. Rapid initial alignment is seen in the SLB group than in the conventional