The goal of this clinical trial is to compare if it is better to treat severe anterior crowding in the early mixed dentition then later in the permanent dentition in children with anterior crowding of the upper teeth. The main questions this trial aims to answer are: * If there is a difference in the degree of anterior crowding between the experimental group and the control group after a five year follow-up period. * If there is a difference between the experimental group and the control group in regard to oral health related quality of life. * If there is spontaneous transversal adaption of the lower dental arch to upper dental arch after maxillary expansion and compare this to the control group. * If early maxillary expansion is more cost-effective than treatment in the permanent dentition. To be eligible for this trial the subject must be children between six and nine years old at the time for inclusion. The children must have crowding of the upper front teeth of six millimeters or more and the lateral incisors should not have erupted or just erupted through the gingiva. Subjects randomized to the experimental group will get an expansion treatment in the upper jaw with rapid maxillary expansion device to gain enough space for the lateral incisors to erupt. All subjects, also the subjects randomized to the control group, are followed until all permanent teeth have erupted. At the end of the follow-up period all subjects fill out a questionnaire to evaluate their oral health related quality of life. Researchers will then compare the subjects in both groups to evaluate if there is a difference in anterior crowding after the follow-up period. Differences in cost-effectiveness, morphological changes and the subjects oral health related quality of life will also be evaluated.
The study will be conducted on consecutively included subjects referred to the centers and then randomized into either an experimental group or a control group. To be able to evaluate the amount of anterior crowding before the lateral incisors have erupted, low-dose Cone Beam Computed Tomography-scans are used to measure the width of the unerupted laterals. The anterior crowding is calculated by comparing the width of the laterals with measurements of the distance between the mesial surfaces of the deciduous upper canines on study casts. The eligible subjects are then randomized to either experimental och control group. The subjects in the experimental group will be treated with a maxillary expansion appliance with bands on the second deciduous molars and arms to the deciduous canines. A small preparation on the palatal surface of the deciduous canines is performed to facilitate bonding of the arms. The screw gives a expansion of 0,20 millimeter per activation. The arms are bonded to the deciduous canines with light curing composite and the bands are cemented on the etched second deciduous molar with glassionomer cement. Then the subject and the parents are instructed to activate the appliance once a day (1/4 turn) for 2 weeks and thereafter every second day until adequate space for the lateral incisors is obtained and the first permanent molars are approaching scissor-bite. The expansion can be paused for 7-8 months after 25-30 activations if the lateral incisors are not yet erupted and the permanent molars are going in scissor-bite to allow for their spontaneous correction. The expansion is then continued until adequate space for the lateral permanent incisors is achieved. During the expansion the subjects will be asked to complete a questionnaire on pain and discomfort. When enough space is available for the crowding to be resolved the expander is blocked with light curing composite or a stainless steel ligature wire. The appliances is kept as a retainer until the laterals are fully erupted. After the follow-up period the treatment effects will be evaluated by measuring of the study models. All measurements will be made digitally with the 3Shape OrthoAnalyzer Differences in palatal volume, transversal width of the maxillary and mandibular dentition between the start of the trial and at the end of the follow-up period will be measured. The questionnaires regarding pain and discomfort and PIDAQ will be analyzed. The last part of the study is to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis for early treatment with maxillary expansion and a cost-effectiveness analysis for treatment in the permanent dentition and then compare them. The direct cost for both experiment and control group will be calculated by adding up material cost and chair-time cost. The indirect cost is defined as the cost for the parents regarding loss of income for the duration of the visits and the trips to and from the clinic. Due to the fact that there are substantial differences in traveling time and income for parents, the indirect costs of treatment will not be taken into account because the randomization will equalize the effect of the differences.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
60
The maxillary expansion device is a orthodontic appliance that is used to expand the maxilla in children.
Postgraduate School of Orthodontics, University of L'Aquila
Coppito, Italy
RECRUITINGUniversita Degli Studi Di Milano
Milan, Italy
RECRUITINGThe Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education in Jönköping
Jönköping, Sweden
RECRUITINGEmil Östlund
Örebro, Sweden
RECRUITINGLong-term spontaneous alignment of anterior maxillary teeth
The long-term spontaneous alignment of anterior maxillary teeth will be evaluated visually and measure on the digital study models.
Time frame: At the end of the observation period, an average of 5 years
Impact on oral health related quality of life
The impact of early expansion treatment on the oral health will be measure at the end of the observation period in both the experimental group and the control group. This will be measured with the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ). The PIDAQ is made of four subparts; * Dental Self-Confidence; six questions answered on a Likert-scale between 0 and 4. Maximum score is 24 och minimum is zero. Higher score is better. * Social Impact: eight questions answered on a Likert-scale between 0 and 4. Maximum score is 32 and zero minimum. Lower score is better. * Psychological Impact: six questions answered on a Likert-scale between 0 and 4. Maximum score is 24 and zero minimum. Lower score is better. * Aestethic Concern: three questions answered on a Likert-scale between 0 and 4. Maximum score is twelve and zero minimum. Lower score is better
Time frame: At the end of the observation period, an average of 5 years.
Cost-effectiveness of early expansion treatment
The total cost of treatments in both the control- and experimental group will be compared to evaluate which treatment is the most cost-effective.
Time frame: At the end of the observation period, an average of 5 years.
Morphological changes in the upper and lower arches.
The morphological changes after expansion will be measured on study models and compared to the study models at the start point. The same will be conducted on the study models for the control group.
Time frame: At the end of the observation period, an average of 5 years.
Complications of expansion.
This measure will be reported descriptive and the complications analyzed.
Time frame: At the end of the observation period, an average of 5 years.
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