Removable appliances with temperature sensors effective in orthodontic patients

Patient compliance during orthodontic treatment is one of the factors that most affects success in the final result. Removable appliances work by simple tipping movements of the crowns of the teeth about a fulcrum close to the middle of the tooth. They also allow differential eruption of teeth, for example by using bite planes. They differ from fixed appliances, which are capable of complex movements of multiple teeth, including bodily movement, root torque and rotation. The use of removable appliances is frequent at an early age and the monitoring of its use is essential to assess the collaboration of the patient.

Hence, Antonio Moreno-Fernández and colleagues from the Stomatology Department, University of Valencia, Spain conducted the present research with the objective to establish the effectiveness of microsensors included in removable appliances during orthodontic treatment or in the retention phase to enable a reliable and individualized follow-up of the patient.

The authors included studies using microsensors into removable appliances with the key selection criterion of a minimum follow-up of 4 weeks. The quality of the studies included was evaluated using the Cochrane scale for the randomized controlled trials and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale for control–case, cohort, and transversal studies. The mean of the differences with a 95% confidence interval was expressed for the continuous data.

The results showed that twenty-nine full-text articles were analysed and included in the qualitative synthesis. In general, the mean daily wear time of removable appliances measured objectively was less than the time that the professional had predetermined.

Therefore, the authors concluded that "the use of microsensors as an objective measurement method enhances communication and boosts confidence in the orthodontist–patient relationship. More random clinical studies with temperature sensors are needed to establish to what extent they influence the orthodontic outcome."