Postretention stability after orthodontic closure of anterior maxillary diastemas

by de Morais, Juliana Fernandes

This study evaluated the stability of maxillary anterior diastemas closure and its association with relapse and dental casts variables (interincisor width, overjet and overbite) and also with root parallelism. Sample comprised 30 patients with at least one pretreatment anterior diastema of 0.77mm or greater after eruption of maxillary permanent canines. Data were obtained from dental casts and panoramic radiographs taken pretreatment, posttreatment and at least 2 years postretention. The sum of initial mean width of the diastemas was 2.64mm (SD=1.46, minimum=0.77). Repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated significant relapse of median diastema (mean=0.45mm, SD=0.66) but this value was statistically slighter than its initial width, and closure of diastemas located between central incisors and lateral incisors showed great stability. Relapse of median diastema occurred in 18 cases, and 19 patients showed at least one space recurrence. Only initial diastema severity width and relapse of overjet showed association with the relapse of median diastema. There was no association between interincisor diastemas relapse and root parallelism.