Prof. Retno Widayati

Orthodontic tooth movement occurs when the force applied to the tooth stimulates inflammatory response and pain modulation.  Orthodontic pain is a common experience, usually after appliance activation and gradually reducing over a few days. Pain perception can be influenced by psychological, gender, age, anxiety, pain threshold factors, which are subjective and difficult to measure. Pain parameters can go through the expression of neuropeptide release resulting from local neurogenic inflammation such as Substance P (SP), Neurokinin A (NKA), and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP). These neuropeptides are involved in pain transmission, inflammation, and bone remodelling. Passive self-ligating shows lower concentrations of SP, CGRP, and potentially NKA, especially during the early phase of orthodontic force application. Another reliable method to measure pain perception during orthodontic treatment is Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Several clinical studies and systematic reviews have shown statistically significant reductions in reported pain levels (measured by VAS) in patients treated with passive self-ligating compared to preadjusted edgewise.