Influence of ibuprofen combined with corticotomy on tooth movement and alveolar bone remodeling in rats.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of corticotomy-assisted orthodontic tooth movement and administration of ibuprofen on tooth movement rate and alveolar bone response.

Materials and methods: A total of 78 adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to five groups: one baseline group (no treatment) and four experimental groups including orthodontic tooth movement only (OTM), orthodontic tooth movement with ibuprofen (OTMI), corticotomy-assisted orthodontic tooth movement (COTM), and corticotomy-assisted orthodontic tooth movement with ibuprofen (COTMI). Corticotomy was performed on a maxillary molar unilaterally. Nickel-titanium closed-coil springs generated a 10-gram force for maxillary first molar movement. The experimental drug groups received 15 mg/kg of ibuprofen, and the other groups received reverse osmosis water. Tooth movement and bone volume fraction were evaluated by micro-computed tomography on days 0, 7, 14, and 21.

Results: The corticotomy groups had statistically significantly higher tooth movement and lower bone volume fraction than the orthodontic groups (P < .05). The amount and rate of tooth movement were statistically significantly different between the OTM and OTMI groups, but not statistically significantly different in bone volume fraction. However, statistically significant differences were not observed in any measurements between the COTM and COTMI groups.

Conclusions: Ibuprofen during orthodontic tooth movement inhibited tooth movement and alveolar bone remodeling but had no effect on corticotomy-assisted orthodontic treatment.