Ten years of miniscrew use in a U.S. orthodontic residency program.

Introduction Orthodontic miniscrews have become popular not only because they can provide an absolute form of anchorage, but also because they can reduce the required patient compliance when compared with traditional orthodontic anchorage. The objective of this study was to examine success rates of miniscrews placed by orthodontic residents and to evaluate which factors may affect insertion outcomes. Methods The sample consisted of 109 consecutive miniscrews placed in 60 patients (27 males and 33 females). Miniscrews were placed at 4 different insertion sites (anterior palate [n = 31], palatal alveolar process [n = 25], maxillary buccal alveolar process [n = 15], and mandibular buccal alveolar process [n = 38]). Analysis of variance tests were used to evaluate the influence of insertion sites and anchorage type (direct vs indirect) on the success rate. Results The overall success rate for miniscrews was 72.5%. The success rate was 83.9% in the anterior palate, 76% in the palatal alveolar process, 60% in the maxillary buccal alveolar process, and 65.8% in the mandibular buccal alveolar process. The success rate was significantly higher in indirect anchorage (84.2%) compared with direct anchorage (58.8%). Conclusions Palatal miniscrews were more successful than buccal miniscrews. Indirect anchorage mechanics had a higher success rate than direct anchorage mechanics.