A study of forces originating from orthodontic appliances for splinting of teeth.

Management of dental trauma in children sometimes requires the use of a dental splint. This can be constructed with composite materials, kevlar, fiberglass, wire and composite or orthodontic wires and brackets. However, there have been no studies of the control of dental movement when orthodontic materials are used for a dental splint. The purpose of this study was to determine the forces exerted by an orthodontic appliance used as a dental splint. To measure such forces, a transducer with a detection of 0.01 N (+/- 5%) was inserted into a maxillary dental arch model. The results showed that the orthodontic wire was rarely passive and the forces developed ranged from 0 to 27 x 10(-2) N. The force developed was independent of the length of the dental splint (p < 0.05) and wire size (p < 0.05). The mean force developed by nickel-titanium wires (14.27 x 10(-2) N) was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the mean force developed by stainless steel and cobalt-chromium wires. Moreover, the mean force developed by rectangular wires (12.07 x 10(-2) N) was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the mean force developed by square and round wires. The results suggested that stainless steel or cobalt-chromium, square or round wires should be used for construction of a dental splint.