Abstract

Fear of pain is a key factor in discouraging patients from seeking orthodontic treatment, with many patients discontinuing treatment due to pain experienced in the early stages of treatment. Patients often complain of traumatized lips and buccal mucosa, which is usually caused by the brackets. Orthodontists try to minimize this pain and discomfort by using bumpering materials. Although wax is the most commonly used product, there are many bracket bumpering materials available.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and patient comfort/satisfaction of a new flowable resin, Ortho Shield, designed to protect the lips and buccal mucosa after initial bracket placement.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Ortho Shield by clinical and photographic evaluation. Ease or difficulty of the placement and removal of Ortho Shield was also scored and evaluated. Ortho Shield was placed on the brackets and evaluated at one and four weeks to determine how much of the material had remained intact on the brackets. Ortho Shield was evaluated for patient comfort/satisfaction by comparing it to two other bumpering materials: the Morgan Bumper and silicone wax. Patients were randomly assigned into one of three groups. Each group tested one of these products. Patients completed questionnaires at one and four weeks after beginning the study. These questionnaires assessed the patient's comfort/satisfaction regarding these three products.

Results showed that Ortho Shield was relatively easy to place on the brackets and once placed remained intact long enough to help the patient adjust to their newly placed brackets. However, Ortho Shield was difficult to remove at the end of the four week clinical trial.

None of the three products compared in this study showed superiority to the others regarding patient comfort/satisfaction. Further, there was no statistical significance to the increase or decrease of patient comfort/satisfaction between weeks one and four.

In summary, Ortho Shield is easily placed on brackets, needs improvement in regard to ease of removal, and gives the patients similar comfort/satisfaction to other bracket bumpering materials currently available to orthodontists.

LLU Discipline

Orthodontics

Department

Dentistry

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Carlos Muñoz

Second Advisor

Joseph Caruso

Third Advisor

James Farrage

Fourth Advisor

Floyd Petersen

Fifth Advisor

Joni Stephens

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

2002

Date (Title Page)

8-2002

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Dental Cements; Orthodontic Brackets

Type

Thesis

Page Count

ix; 46

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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