Salivary and urinary nickel level post orthodontic fixed appliance treatment / Nadia Izyan Muhamad Sabri

Nickel is a metallic element widely used in dentistry and orthodontic materials. Although orthodontic appliances are biocompatible, there are documented effects associated with the release of nickel ions such as a higher risk of sensitivity and ion leaching due to intraoral chemical reaction. It has been postulated that even in small quantities, prolonged exposure to nickel is cytotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic. Previously, studies on nickel level focused on the before and during orthodontic treatment changes. However, there are insufficient reports on the nickel level post orthodontic treatment. This study aims to evaluate the salivary and urinary nickel level following the exposure of orthodontic fixed appliances at different time points. It was based on the data obtained from the saliva and urine samples of orthodontic patients at debonding (To), after one month (Ti), three months post-debonding (T2) and from control subjects without any history of orthodontic treatment. Saliva and urine samples were collected and stored at -20 °C. Samples were then prepared and analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to detect the mean nickel level in each sample. Statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS, Version 27).