Orthodontic Considerations for Traumatized Permanent Teeth

Objectives: The aim of this article is to shed the light on the recommendations for orthodontic movement of traumatized teeth since traumatic dental injuries forms a challenge to the orthodontists worldwide. We tried to create a kind of treatment protocol in different kinds of traumas depending on available case reports and text books in this field.

Materials and Methods: Searching included dental text books and electronic searching (pubmed, medline, embase and central databases). Inclusion criteria were: Dental, oral and maxillofacial trauma oriented articles and text books.

Results: 56 articles and text books met the searching criteria.

Limitation: This article is basically depending on case reports. It is obvious that there is no clinical randomized studies in third field, because it depends on accidents and trauma, thus the reader will not find a discussion or a part in this article to compare between the different findings and opinions.

Conclusion: Generally, minor traumatic injuries require at least three months observation period before starting orthodontic movement. When the trauma is of greater severity at least six months observation period is needed as a minimum. Teeth with horizontal root fracture should be observed for one to two years before starting orthodontic movement. More research should be done in this field.

Clinical Significance: Dental traumatic injuries have a high prevalence worldwide, and it affects children, adolescents and adults. Since orthodontic tooth movement is principally a periodontal ligament phenomenon, the orthodontist should be able to deal with the periodontal ligament injuries that might happen before or during the course of orthodontic treatment.