Abstract
Objectives: To provide collective quantitative evidence about the effect of surface treatments on the mechanical stability of orthodontic miniscrews (MSs).
Materials and Methods: The study was registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42020209652). The research question was defined according to the PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) format. Various research databases were searched for animal and human studies on effects of surface treatment on the mechanical stability of MSs. Both prospective and retrospective in vivo clinical studies published in English were included. The risk of bias was assessed using SYRCLE's risk of bias tool for animal studies. The meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4.
Results: A total of 109 articles were identified; 14 were included in the systematic review, and seven studies with sandblasting, acid etching (SLA) methods of surface treatment were included for meta-analysis. The number of study participants ranged from 6 to 24 (total n 185), with a mean of 13.2. A total of 949 MSs were used with a mean of 67.8. The overall success rate for surface-treated MSs ranged from 47.9% to 100%. Forest plot of removal torque values showed significantly higher values for SLA surface-treated MSs compared with controls with a standard mean difference of 2.61 (95% confidence interval = 1.49-3.72, I-2 = 85%). Forest plot of insertion torque showed a standard mean difference of -6.19 (95% confidence interval = -13.63-1.25, I-2 = 98%, P = .10).
Conclusions: Surface treatment of MSs improved primary and secondary stability with good osseointegration at the bone-implant surface. However, significant heterogeneity across the studies included in the meta-analysis made it difficult to draw conclusions.