Influence of preoperative degree of tooth loosening and thickness of wire on the rigidity of wire composite splint.

Context: A wire composite splint (WCS) is most commonly used in clinical practice for the management of luxation dental injuries (LDIs). Wire thickness and adhesive point dimensions influence the rigidity of WCS. However, the influence of presplint tooth mobility on the rigidity of splint is not yet addressed.

Aim: The aim of this study is to identify the optimal thickness of WCS that achieves physiologic mobility in teeth with varying degrees of loosening (DoL) in a simulated LDI model.

Settings And Design: study.

Materials And Methods: Three typodont models with resin teeth were used. Right central incisor (Tooth 11) was simulated as an injured tooth and adjacent right lateral and left central incisor teeth (12 and21) acted as uninjured teeth. Each typodont model was modified to reproduce DoL 1, 2, and 3 in tooth 11 and categorized as Groups I, II, and III, respectively. The simulated injured tooth 11 was splinted with adjacent teeth 12 and 21 using 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8 mm WCS. Postsplinting DoL was assessed with Periotest.

Statistical Analysis Used: Two-way ANOVA and Tukey test were used for intragroup and intergroup comparisons of pre- and postsplinting Periotest values (PTVs). Friedman's two-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for the intragroup and intergroup comparison of splint effect.

Results: Irrespective of the thickness of WCS, the postsplint PTVs corresponding to DoL 0 for simulated injured right central incisor tooth (11) were not achieved in Groups II and III. In three study groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the splint effect produced by 0.3 mm versus 0.5 mm WCS or 0.5 mm versus 0.8 mm WCS for tooth 11.

Conclusions: The postsplint DoL for a luxated tooth is affected by both the degree of presplint tooth mobility and the thickness of the wire.