Pathways of pain to pleasure in orthodontics: A review

In this era esthetic being prim concern for all the patients, orthodontics provides correction and enhancement of esthetics of patient with long term stable results. Orthodontic therapy involves pain and it is a major concern for parents, patients and clinicians. The most cited negative effect arising from orthodontic force application is orthodontic pain. It is major deterrent to orthodontic treatment and an important reason for discontinuing treatment. This area requires attention in clinical practice as well as in research and is ignored as evidenced by the scarcity of publications on the topic in comparison with other areas of orthodontic research. The purpose of this review is to enlighten us with the physiological aspects of pain perception and to assess various therapeutic procedures for pain management along with discuss the changes in the materials and procedures of fixed mechanotherapy to give patients ease of treatment and make their painful procedure to a pleasant experience.