الفهرس 
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of piezopuncture on RANKL level in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) during orthodontic canine retraction. Fourteen adult patients were selected from the Clinic of the Orthodontic Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Mansoura University to participate in this study. They had an age range of 18-25 years and were indicated for extraction of the maxillary first premolars.Split mouth study design was performed. Piezopunctures were randomly assigned to the maxillary right side in half of the patients while the other side served as control. The reverse was done in the other half of the patients. Retraction of maxillary canines was started on both sides immediately after piezopunctures. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected from all patients to evaluate the RANKL level. These samples were taken from the distobuccal crevices of the maxillary canine for both experimental and control side. They were obtained several times: immediately before piezopuncture and then at 1, 7, 14, 60 and 90 days after canine retraction. RANKL levels were measured using human specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The data were then collected and analyzed.In present study, there was statistically significant increase in the control side (retraction without piezopuncture) at 1 day (24 h) when compared to the baseline (0time). As regards experimental side (retraction with piezopuncture), there were statistically significant increases at 7 and 14 days when compared to the base time (0time). There were also statistically significant increases of RANKL level in the experimental (piezopuncture) side compared to the control side only at 1, 7 and 14 days after performing piezopunctures.We conclude that piezopuncture is an effective surgical technique. It significantly increases RANKL levels in GCF during canine retraction within the first 2 weeks after performing piezopuncture.