INTRODUCTION: The prolonged orthodontic treatment time is considered a major concern both for patients and clinicians.
Corticotomy has been proposed as a method for acceleration of orthodontic tooth movement and was found successful. However, its popularity decreased because of its invasiveness. Micro-osteoperforations have been proposed for acceleration with minimal invasiveness. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to clinically evaluate the effect of micro-osteoperforations on the rate of orthodontic tooth movement as evaluated by its effect on the rate of canine retraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial, with a sample size of 10 adult patients (mean age 17.5±2.5 years) requiring the therapeutic extraction of maxillary first premolars' followed by canine retraction. Micro-osteoperforations were randomly assigned to one side of the maxillary arch at the canine-premolar region, and the contra-lateral side served as control. Anchorage reinforcement was performed usingmini-screws, and canine retraction was performed using nickel-titanium closed coil springs, delivering a force of 150 grams on each side. The rate of canine retraction was measured throughout the study period from dental models obtained at the follow-up visits every 3 weeks. RESULTS: The average daily rate of canine retraction was significantly higher on the experimental side compared to that on the control side by approximately 2 times during the first 9 weeks of the study. CONCLUSION: Micro-osteoperforations have been found clinically successful in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement and shortening the treatment duration. However, acceleration of tooth movement has been found significant during the first 9 weeks, which represent the period of regional acceleratory phenomenon.