Initial orthodontic alignment effectiveness with self-ligating and conventional appliances: a network meta-analysis in practice.

Pandis, Nikolaos; Fleming, Padhraig S; Spineli, Loukia M; Salanti, Georgia (2014). Initial orthodontic alignment effectiveness with self-ligating and conventional appliances: a network meta-analysis in practice. American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, 145(4 Suppl), S152-S163. Mosby 10.1016/j.ajodo.2013.12.016

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Systematic reviews of well-designed trials constitute a high level of scientific evidence and are important for medical decision making. Meta-analysis facilitates integration of the evidence using a transparent and systematic approach, leading to a broader interpretation of treatment effectiveness and safety than can be attained from individual studies. Traditional meta-analyses are limited to comparing just 2 interventions concurrently and cannot combine evidence concerning multiple treatments. A relatively recent extension of the traditional meta-analytical approach is network meta-analysis, which allows, under certain assumptions, the quantitative synthesis of all evidence under a unified framework and across a network of all eligible trials. Network meta-analysis combines evidence from direct and indirect information via common comparators; interventions can therefore be ranked in terms of the analyzed outcome. In this article, the network meta-analysis approach is introduced in a nontechnical manner using a worked example on the treatment effectiveness of conventional and self-ligating appliances.

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