This study aimed to investigate the effects of low-nicotine cigarette smoke (CS) inhalation on orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) in rats. Forty 4-week-old male Wistar rats, were randomly divided into four groups: three experimental and one control. Group 1 (control group) had dental impressions taken at week 9. Group 2: OTM group received a continuous mesially directed force applied to the maxillary first molar at week 9 for 4 weeks. Group 3: CS group rats had 9 weeks of CS inhalation; Group 4: CS + OTM group, 9 weeks of CS inhalation and 4 weeks of orthodontic force application. Rats in groups 3 (CS) and 4 (CS + OTM) were exposed to 10 cigarettes for 8 minutes, 3 times per day for 9 weeks. All groups had polyvinyl siloxane impressions taken at week 9 and at the end of the experimental period (week 13). At week 13, all rats were sacrificed under general anesthesia, and their maxillae were dissected and scanned using a TRIOS 2014-1 intraoral scanner. The tooth movements were measured using digital models. A slight increase in tooth movement rate was observed in smokers. However, this difference was not statistically significant. CS inhalation did not increase the rate of OTM in rats.
Gülnar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.