Perception of Pain after Insertion of Mini-Screws in Orthodontic Patients

Abstract

Objective: To measure the pain perceived by the patient after the insertion of an orthodontic mini screw.

Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the Out-Patient Department of Orthodontics, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi for 8 months. The sample size used was 35. Self-drilling mini-screws (8mm x 1.6mm) were manually inserted. Patients were asked to report pain scores at 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours and 1 week on a Visual Analogue Scale. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 21. Analysis of variance was used to compare the pain score at different time durations. The level of statistical significance was P≤ 0.05.

Results: There were 11 (31.4%) males and 24 (68.6%) females with a mean age of 18.66±3.404 years. The mean pain scores up to 1 hour was 0.83±1.014, from 1-12 hours was 1.06±1.083, from 12–24 hours was 0.14±0.355 and from 24 hours-1 week was 0±0. Out of the total, five (14.3%) patients had to take analgesia in the first hour, while during 1–12 hours, 12–24 hours and 24 hours per week, nine (25.7%), seven (2.9%), and zero took the analgesics respectively.

Conclusion: The pain experienced with mini-screw insertion is low. The greatest pain was recorded in 1-12 hours following insertion, after which it started to decrease.