Abstract
Orthodontic treatment, regardless of the system used, is normally accompanied by varying degrees of discomfort and pain, especially during the initial stages of treatment. The perception of pain is a complex and multifaced subjective experience, influenced by multiple factors such as biological factors, individual differences, treatment modalities, and psychological aspects. Among these factors, sex differences have been increasingly recognized as a potential contributor to varying pain experiences in different clinical settings.
Over the years, extensive research has been conducted to understand the complexities of pain perception in various medical and dental fields. For example, females are known to express more pain report compared to males, partially due to masculine gender norms that impose an increased pain tolerance, while feminine gender norms are permissive of pain expression.High doses of estrogens (normally present during pregnancy and certain phases of menstrual cycle) are associated to reduced inflammatory cytokine production. Estrogens also inhibit osteoblasts and induce osteoclasts, important molecule responsible of tooth movement during orthodontic therapies. Moreover, hormones also differently influenced pain sensitivity secondary to various modalities of painful stimulation, according to menstrual cycle phase. Finally, psychological traits are significantly different between females and males, with higher anxiety/depression, stress response and pain catastrophizing exhibited by females. Moreover, thanks to the recent advances in aesthetic appliances, the request of an orthodontic treatment has becoming more and more prevalent not only among adolescents, but also among adults.
However, data collected on sex difference in orthodontic pain across different age group remain relatively inconclusive, with most of the studies not purposely investigating this difference as main purpose of the investigation. As a result, there has not been published yet a review investigating the role of sex differences in orthodontic pain perception. Therefore, the current review is to systematically explore the difference in orthodontic pain perception between females and males according to different age group and orthodontic system used.
A systematic search was created by a health sciences librarian in conjunction with the researcher. The search was conducted in PubMed and then translated to EMBASE, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete (CINAHL), Web of Science Core Collection via Clarivate, Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source (DOSS), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Gray literature will be sourced and evaluated by the primary investigator from professional organization websites.
Over the years, extensive research has been conducted to understand the complexities of pain perception in various medical and dental fields. For example, females are known to express more pain report compared to males, partially due to masculine gender norms that impose an increased pain tolerance, while feminine gender norms are permissive of pain expression.High doses of estrogens (normally present during pregnancy and certain phases of menstrual cycle) are associated to reduced inflammatory cytokine production. Estrogens also inhibit osteoblasts and induce osteoclasts, important molecule responsible of tooth movement during orthodontic therapies. Moreover, hormones also differently influenced pain sensitivity secondary to various modalities of painful stimulation, according to menstrual cycle phase. Finally, psychological traits are significantly different between females and males, with higher anxiety/depression, stress response and pain catastrophizing exhibited by females. Moreover, thanks to the recent advances in aesthetic appliances, the request of an orthodontic treatment has becoming more and more prevalent not only among adolescents, but also among adults.
However, data collected on sex difference in orthodontic pain across different age group remain relatively inconclusive, with most of the studies not purposely investigating this difference as main purpose of the investigation. As a result, there has not been published yet a review investigating the role of sex differences in orthodontic pain perception. Therefore, the current review is to systematically explore the difference in orthodontic pain perception between females and males according to different age group and orthodontic system used.
A systematic search was created by a health sciences librarian in conjunction with the researcher. The search was conducted in PubMed and then translated to EMBASE, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete (CINAHL), Web of Science Core Collection via Clarivate, Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source (DOSS), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Gray literature will be sourced and evaluated by the primary investigator from professional organization websites.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Type | Systematic review protocol |
| State | Published - Nov 2 2023 |