Cortical bone thickness and bone density effects on miniscrew success rates: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Objective To systematically review the effects of cortical bone thickness (CBT) and bone mass density (BMD) on miniscrew success rates. Methods MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched up to June 2020. Of a total of 5734 articles, seven studies were finally selected for the review. Results The overall mean success rate weighted by the number of miniscrews was 87.21% (89.87% in the maxilla and 79.24% in the mandible). There was a significantly higher success rate for miniscrews placed in the maxilla compared with those in the mandible (P < .05). CBT showed small positive effect on the success rate of the miniscrews although it failed to reach a statistical significance. The cortical BMD had a minimal effect on the success of the miniscrews. The cancellous BMD demonstrated a very strong effect on the success of the miniscrews in the maxilla, whereas it showed a moderately negative effect in the mandible. Limitations Because of the small number and clinical heterogeneity of the included studies, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further randomized clinical studies with a large sample size are recommended.