The Biological Effects of Commercial Orthodontic Miniscrews on the Oral Investing Tissue

The use of miniscrew implants as an anchorage device in orthodontics has gained a widespread acceptance in recent years. There prevailed use has been attributed to its ease in insertion and removal at a relatively low cost with no need to wait for a long time between miniscrew insertion and force application. In this regard; clinical studies have suggested that miniscrew implants may provide stable anchorage during the orthodontic treatment without requiring patient cooperation. These studies proved many successful applications in orthodontics involving; retraction of anterior teeth, correction of open bites, distalization, mesialization, and intrusion of teeth.

In dentistry, various materials are used in implant systems. The implant material must be nontoxic, biocompatible, mechanically sufficient, and having high tension and corrosion resistance. Commercially pure titanium (cp Ti) is the most used material in prosthetic implants because of its; high biocompatibility, high corrosion resistance in body fluids, not allergic, high specific strength, and low elastic modulus when compared with other metallic biomaterials.

On the other hand, orthodontic miniscrew implants are smaller than conventional prosthetic implants and should resist high orthodontic loads. These factors contribute to the possible fracture of cp Ti miniscrew implants during placement, use, and removal. To avoid such fracture, Ti alloy implants, composed with aluminum (6Al) and vanadium (4V), (Ti-6Al-4V), for adding strength and fatigue resistance than cp Ti, are required. Unfortunately, this alloy has a low corrosion resistance and can result in corrosion of the orthodontic miniscrew implants in body fluids.

Any metal or alloy implanted in the human body is a potential source of toxicity. In an oral envelope, miniscrew implants are exposed to a number of potentially destructive physical and chemical agents. Evaluation the potential of conventional dental implants to release metallic ions into the body have been done. However, little attention has been given to metallic ion released from orthodontic miniscrew implant systems and the potential toxicity of these released metal on oral tissues. The concern about this has been limited to orthodontic brackets and wires.

One of the studies concerned with the biocompatibility of different metals used in vivo of different fixed orthodontic appliances and evaluating the presence of metal ions in oral mucosa cells, their potential cytotoxicity, and genotoxic effects. This study concluded that nickel and cobalt metals released from fixed orthodontic appliances could induce DNA damage in oral mucosa cells.