How Does Orthodontic Mini-Implant Thread Minidesign Influence the Stability?-Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Background: Clinical guidelines are lacking for the use of orthodontic mini-implants (OMIs) in terms of scientific evidence referring to the choice of proper mini-design. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate to what extent orthodontic mini-implant thread design influences its stability. Methods: Search was conducted in five search engines on 10 May. Quality assessment was performed using study type specific scales. Whenever possible, meta-analysis was performed. Results: The search strategy identified 118 potential articles. Twenty papers were subjected to qualitative analysis and data from 8 papers-to meta-analysis. Studies included were characterized by high or medium quality. Four studies were considered as low quality. No clinical studies considering the number of threads, threads depth, or TSF have been found in the literature. Conclusions: Minidesign of OMIs seems to influence their stability in the bone. Thread pitch seems to be of special importance for OMIs retention-the more dense thread-the better stability. Thread depth seems to be of low importance for OMIs stability. There is no clear scientific evidence for optimal thread shape factor. Studies present in the literature vary greatly in study design and results reporting. Research received no external funding. Study protocol number in PROSPERO database: CRD42022340970.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the influence of orthodontic mini-implant thread design on its stability. The results showed that the thread pitch of mini-implants is crucial for their retention and stability. A denser thread pitch leads to better stability. However, the depth of the thread has minimal impact on the stability of mini-implants. Additionally, there is no clear scientific evidence for the optimal thread shape factor.