Comparison of the effect on oral discomfort of two positioning techniques with lingual brackets.

Using a standardized questionnaire, 41 patients (12 men, 29 women; mean age 31.5 +/- 12.1 years) were interviewed prospectively on their subjective oral comfort, various oral functions, and professional qualification before indirect application of lingual brackets (T0), within 24 h of application (T1), and three months later (+/- 1 week) (T2). In 22 of the 41 patients, the brackets were positioned with the Bonding with Equalized Specific Thickness (BEST) technique (BEST group) and in 19 patients by the Transfer Optimized Positioning (TOP) method (TOP group). Despite positive adaptation, the patients in both groups still reported a significant deficiency in tongue space at T2 as well as significantly more frequent lesions to the tongue. The BEST group was affected significantly more often by these problems than the TOP group. At T2, the tongue position was also rated as changed significantly more often in the BEST group than in the TOP group. Although the BEST positioning technique leads to greater impairments in oral comfort than the TOP technique, it offers the orthodontist the advantage of less bending input. In both techniques, there is a need for detailed briefing of patients about the extent and duration of impairments induced by lingual brackets.