Comparison of effects of bracket types and treatment duration on periodontal health of adult patients

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the effect of fixed orthodontic treatments with steel-ligated conventional brackets and self-ligating brackets (SLBs) on periodontal clinical parameters. Materials and Methods Seventy-seven patients (24 male and 53 female) aged between 18 and 30 years were enrolled in the study. Periodontal parameters including plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and bleeding on probing (BOP) index were obtained from all the bonded teeth. Results When the effect of bracket type and duration of treatment on gingival tissues was examined, there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment times (P = 0.670) and bracket types (P = 0.596) in terms of PI. The GI was significantly different between the different treatment durations (P = 0.045); it was higher in patients with a treatment duration of 18–36 months. However, the GI did not change according to the bracket types (P = 0.270). This result was not significantly different between different treatment durations (P = 0.270). There was no significant difference between the treatment periods (P = 0.189) in terms of BOP index, and this result did not change according to the bracket types (P = 0.621). Conclusion SLBs do not require ligatures, which may facilitate plaque accumulation. However, our results showed that SLBs were not advantageous over CBs in terms of periodontal health.