Pulp Changes Secondary to Orthodontic Forces: A Review of Literature

This review article encompasses the literature pertaining to changes in the dental pulp subsequent to forces exerted secondary to orthodontic treatment. The review was conducted at the College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, from October 2022 to February 2023. A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library and Google Scholar for articles from 2000 to 2023. Keywords and MeSH terms used were ‘orthodontic forces’, ‘pulp changes’, ‘dental pulpal changes’, and ‘pulp volume’. Two reviewers went through the titles. After removing irrelevant and duplicate articles, abstracts were assessed for relevant articles. Finally, the reviewers analyzed full-text articles, and a total of five articles including four randomized controlled trials and one retrospective study were selected. It was concluded that managing and minimizing injury to the pulp or supporting tissues is important when using orthodontic mechanics. In order to do so, clinicians must thoroughly understand any change in the pulpal tissue following the orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic tooth movements cause inflammatory changes in the tooth pulp and periodontal ligament which are directly related to the amount, direction, and time duration of force used. Long-term pulp blood flow analysis shows that even though there is a transient uptrend in the flow of blood after the removal of the orthodontic force, it reverts to normal levels three months later. However, pulp volume has been reported to decrease, more prominently in anterior teeth, as orthodontic forces stimulate the pulp to produce tertiary dentin.