Evaluation of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) With Temporary Skeletal Anchorage Devices in Fixed Orthodontic Treatment: A Systematic Review

Analysis of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is essential to ensure that the skeletal and traditional anchoring methods are appropriately and effectively utilized in the context of patient acceptance and satisfaction. This review's objective was to assess the available data on the levels of discomfort, soft-tissue irritation, functional impairment, and other patient-reported outcomes related to the usage of mini-implants in the context of fixed orthodontic treatment for adult patients. A total of seven electronic bibliographic databases were searched between January 1995 and February 2022. Moreover, a manual search was done in the selected orthodontic journals. This systematic review (SR) covered cohort studies, retrospective studies, randomized clinical trials (RCTs), and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) that studied the use of mini-implants, mini-plates, or onplants as anchorage devices on patients receiving orthodontic treatment. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane’s risk of bias tool (RoB2 tool). Three RCTs and two cohorts were included in this SR with a total of 468 patients. Three of the four included studies were at high risk of bias. The pain level was in the “mild-to-moderate” category on the first day following the insertion of mini-implants, then decreased to a mild level from the fifth day to the seventh day of insertion (mean values are 36.61, 16.36, and 11.33, respectively). The levels of functional impairments were found to be located between the “mild-to-moderate” and “moderate” categories after the placement of mini-plates and intermaxillary fixation screws, while they experienced a mild level with mini-implants. The greatest pain levels were found after the insertion of the temporary anchorage devices (TADs) and then decreased until they became mild or disappeared completely after one month. Speaking, chewing, and cleaning difficulties were more problematic when using TADs compared to conventional anchorage. To obtain good evidence in this area, more high-quality RCTs are needed.