Dianiskova S, Calzolari C, Migliorati M, Silvestrini-Biavati A, Isola G, Savoldi F, Dalessandri D, Paganelli C. Tooth loss caused by displaced elastic during simple preprosthetic orthodontic treatment. World J Clinical Cases 2016; 4(9): 285-289 [PMID: 27672645 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i9.285]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Domenico Dalessandri, DDS, MS (Ortho), PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Brescia, 1 p.le Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy. dalessandridomenico@libero.it
Research Domain of This Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Simona Dianiskova, Orthodontic Postgraduate Programme, Dental School, Slovak Medical University, 83303 Bratislava, Slovakia
Chiara Calzolari, Marco Migliorati, Armando Silvestrini-Biavati, Orthodontics Department, School of Dentistry, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
Gaetano Isola, Department of Biomedical, Odontostomatological Sciences and of Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy
Gaetano Isola, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, School of Medicine, University “Federico II”, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Fabio Savoldi, Domenico Dalessandri, Corrado Paganelli, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Author contributions: Dianiskova S and Migliorati M conceived the study; Calzolari C and Dalessandri D did the study design and drafting of the manuscript; Savoldi F and Isola G did the literature review and provided additional information; Silvestrini-Biavati A and Paganelli C contributed in revision and approval of the final draft of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This case report was exempt by the Institutional Review Board Standards of the School of Dentistry of University of Brescia.
Informed consent statement: The authors certify that they have obtained the appropriate patient consent form. In the form the patient gave his consent for his images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patient understands that his name and initials will not be published, and his anonymity will be guaranteed.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare the absence of conflicting interests.
Correspondence to: Domenico Dalessandri, DDS, MS (Ortho), PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Brescia, 1 p.le Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy. dalessandridomenico@libero.it
Telephone: +39-030-3995783 Fax: +39-030-3996097
Received: April 27, 2016 Peer-review started: April 28, 2016 First decision: May 17, 2016 Revised: June 4, 2016 Accepted: July 11, 2016 Article in press: July 13, 2016 Published online: September 16, 2016 Processing time: 133 Days and 9 Hours
Abstract
The use of elastics to close a diastema or correct tooth malpositions can create unintended consequences if not properly controlled. The American Association of Orthodontists recently issued a consumer alert, warning of “a substantial risk for irreparable damage” from a new trend called “do-it-yourself” orthodontics, consisting of patients autonomously using elastics to correct tooth position. The elastics can work their way below the gums and around the roots of the teeth, causing damage to the periodontium and even resulting in tooth loss. The cost of implants to replace these teeth would well exceed the cost of proper orthodontic care. This damage could also occur in a dental office, when a general dentist tries to perform a simplified orthodontic correction of a minor tooth malposition. The present case report describes a case of tooth loss caused by a displaced intraoral elastic, which occurred during a simple preprosthetic orthodontic treatment.
Core tip: This article describes the harmful effects caused by the subgingival displacement of an intraoral elastic during a simple preprosthetic orthodontic treatment. The paper highlights the importance of being referred to an orthodontist to correct malocclusions, warning general dentists against undertaking complex orthodontic treatments without having the necessary orthodontic skills. This work also describes a phenomenon called, “do-it-yourself orthodontics”, which is gaining in popularity amongst adolescents thanks to the tutorials available on various websites such as YouTube, and strongly warns against this practice because it may cause irreparable periodontal damage and tooth loss.
