Cortical bone thickness and bone density effects on miniscrew success rates: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To systematically review the effects of cortical bone thickness (CBT) and bone mass density (BMD) on miniscrew success rates.

Methods: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched up to June 2020. Of a total of 5734 articles, seven studies were finally selected for the review.

Results: The overall mean success rate weighted by the number of miniscrews was 87.21% (89.87% in the maxilla and 79.24% in the mandible). There was a significantly higher success rate for miniscrews placed in the maxilla compared with those in the mandible (P < .05). CBT showed small positive effect on the success rate of the miniscrews although it failed to reach a statistical significance. The cortical BMD had a minimal effect on the success of the miniscrews. The cancellous BMD demonstrated a very strong effect on the success of the miniscrews in the maxilla, whereas it showed a moderately negative effect in the mandible.

Limitations: Because of the small number and clinical heterogeneity of the included studies, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further randomized clinical studies with a large sample size are recommended.

Keywords: bone density; cortical bone thickness; meta-analysis; success rates of miniscrews; systematic review.