Endoscopically Assisted Tunnel Approach for Minimally Invasive Corticotomies: A Preliminary Report

Background: The dental community has expressed low acceptance of traditional corticotomy techniques for corticotomy-facilitated orthodontics. These procedures are time consuming, entail substantial postoperative morbidity and periodontal risks, and are often perceived as highly invasive. Methods: A total of 114 interdental sites were treated in nine consecutive patients. Under local anesthesia, a tunnel approach requiring one to three vertical incisions per arch (depending on the targeted teeth) was used. Piezosurgical corticotomies and elective bone augmentation procedures were performed under endoscopic assistance. Postoperative cone-beam computerized tomography evaluation was used to confirm adequate corticotomy depth. Results: Procedures were completed in a mean time of 26 minutes. Follow-up evaluations revealed no loss of tooth vitality, no changes in periodontal probing depth, good preservation of the papillae, and no gingival recession. No evidence of crestal bone height reduction or apical root resorption was detected. Conclusions: The tunnel approach minimizes soft-tissue debridement and permits effective cortical cuts. The combination of piezosurgery technique with endoscopic assistance provides a quick, reliable means to design and perform these corticotomies while maximizing root integrity preservation. Moreover, the sites needing bone augmentation are selected under direct vision. Compared to traditional corticotomies, this procedure has manifest advantages in surgical time, technical complexity, patient morbidity, and periodontium preservation. J Periodontol 2012;83:574-580.