IJSR International Journal of Scientific Research 2277 - 8179 Indian Society for Health and Advanced Research ijsr-9-4-24710 Original Research Paper A survey of current trends in Self-Ligating Brackets: An Orthodontists's perspective. Sharma Dr. Shalu Jain Dr. Munish Reddy Dr. April 2020 9 4 01 02 ABSTRACT

Objective: To ascertain the benefits of Self–Ligating brackets based on the clinical experience of Orthodontitsts. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 19 questions was formulated and circulated among orthodontists consisting of five sections representing patients comfort, treatment duration, extraction vs non–extraction debate, operators convenience and operators experience. The responses were then evaluated based on the total experience of orthodontists and statistically analysed. Results and Conclusions: A total of 323 responses were received. Self–Ligating Brackets improved patient comfort but had no impact on the overall treatment time when compared to Conventional brackets. 66.8% respondents believed that it caused expansion of the arches using a combination of routine wire and the wires supplied with the kit which may help in converting some borderline cases to non–extraction. Thought it did not have any improvements with the post treatment stability, it certainly reduced the chair time for each patient. The usage of these brackets enhanced with the increasing experience of orthodontists(p=0.001) and thus it can be paraphrased that its frequency is increasing as more of its benefits are unravelled, although the individual factors still need to be evaluated using clinical studies to produce an evidence based protocol.