Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the amount of external apical root resorption (EARR) in endodontically treated anterior teeth and their vital counterparts following orthodontic treatment, using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT scans.
Methodology: This prospective split-mouth study consisted of 25 patients that were selected from the outpatient clinic of the department of Orthodontics, Cairo University. The patients had full permanent dentition and Class I occlusion with moderate crowding. They were non-syndromic with no history of orthodontic treatment. Each patient included had at least one maxillary anterior endodontically treated tooth (ETT) and its vital contralateral tooth (VCT) acted as the control. There was no difference in root lengths before orthodontic treatment. Non-extraction orthodontic treatment was done for the patients. CBCT scans were taken for each patient before (T0) and immediately after orthodontic debonding (T1). Teeth lengths at T0 and at T1 were measured in order to evaluate the amount of root resorption.
Results: After orthodontic treatment, tooth lengths measured in the ETT were significantly higher (23.83±1.99) than those of their VCT (22.21±2.48) (p<0.001). When comparing endodontically treated and vital teeth, there was a significant reduction of measured length after orthodontic treatment (p<0.001). Apical root resorption measured in VCT was significantly higher (2.61±1.14) than in ETT (1.01±0.63) (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Endodontically treated teeth (ETT) showed significantly less EARR following orthodontic treatment than their vital contralateral teeth (VCT). This suggests that probable complication of root resorption in root-filled teeth is not regarded as an important consideration during orthodontic treatment planning.