The Six Rs of Orthodontics: Part 2, Root Resorption

Studies have recognised root resorption as an inevitable consequence of orthodontic treatment that affects up to 100% of cases, but is it something that orthodontists, patients and parents simply have to accept when using fixed appliances? 

A small team of researchers at Sydney University, headed by Professor Darendeliler, has published a series of 20 articles on the ‘Physical Properties of Root Cementum’ in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthodontics (AJODO). One of them examined the possibility that using intermittent rather than continuous force on teeth was a more effective method of avoiding root resorption.