Efficacy of Clear Aligners in Treating Class III Malocclusion With Mandibular Molar Distalization: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The primary goal of orthodontic therapy in pseudo-class III is to restore the proper dental connection by rectifying the canine and molar relationship to Class I through lower molar and premolar visualization, as well as providing normal anterior overjet. The purpose of this systematic study was to determine the efficacy of clear aligners in treating class III malocclusion with mandibular molar distalization. A wide range of searches were done on various search engines like Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to collect relevant articles related to our study. This review's article selection was guided by the PRISMA flowchart. The electronic findings provided numerous articles with nearly 78 articles regarding clear aligners in class III malocclusion with molar distalization. From this, seven full-text papers were evaluated for eligibility criteria, with two articles being rejected with justification and five articles being elaborated in the current systematic review. The current evidence of this review suggested that the clear aligners were effective in correcting class III malocclusion with molar distalization. The amount of molar distalization is about 2 to 3 mm, which helps in achieving molar and canine relationship in class I, with a high compliance level and also improvement of the facial profile.

Vertical Control in Molar Distalization by Clear Aligners: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Through sequential distalization strategy, clear aligners have been proven to achieve maxillary first molar distalization with a mean efficacy of 87% [14]. Regarding the efficacy of mandibular molar distalization, a systematic review suggests that 2-3 mm is possible for mandibular molar distalization with clear aligners in combination with TADs [15]. While the existing literature suggests promising implications of utilizing clear aligners to distalize molars, whether clear aligners can provide proper vertical control during molar distalization is still highly debated.…”