Movement of anterior teeth using clear aligners: a three-dimensional, retrospective evaluation

Abstract

BackgroundClear aligner treatment offers several advantages, but the available literature shows that some kind of tooth movements are unpredictable. In addition, the majority of the studies are focused on one clear aligner system, while different characteristics of various systems can provide different treatment outcomes. The aim of the present retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the predictability of Nuvola® aligner system in achieving torque movements of anterior teeth.MethodsThirty-nine adult patients, who were consecutively treated with clear aligners, were retrospectively selected, and digital models pre-treatment (T0), post-treatment (T1) and the digital setup models (TS) were collected. Only the first phase of treatment made of 12 aligners was considered for the present study. Torque of anterior teeth was measured as labiolingual inclination on digital models at T0, T1, and TS using VAM software. Any difference between the predicted and achieved torque movements was evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-rank test or paired sample t test. First-type error was set as p < 0.008.ResultsNo statistically significant difference was found for all the anterior teeth between predicted and achieved torque movements.ConclusionsThe studied clear aligner system was able to produce clinical outcomes comparable to the planning of the digital setup relative to torque movements of the anterior teeth.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40510-018-0207-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effectiveness of clear aligner therapy for orthodontic treatment: A systematic review

“…Of the seven included articles, one is a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and six are retrospective cohort studies . All articles were written in English.…”

“…Five of the studies used the Invisalign ® system. The other two studies used Nuvola ® system and F22 aligners …”

“…Sample sizes ranged from 16 to 75, with a total of 254 subjects. Five of the covered studies assessed predictability of tooth movement comparing post‐treatment patient models to the predicted digital planned tooth movement models [(ClinCheck ® ) (Vectra software; Canfield Scientific,)]. Two studies compared the clear aligner therapy outcome to the fixed appliance treatment outcome by using lateral cephalograms …”

“…A retrospective study (n = 39) by Tepedino et al evaluated the predictability of Nuvola ® aligner in achieving to buccolingual inclination (torque) movements of anterior teeth presenting mild to moderate crowding. The records of patients from September 2013 to September 2017 for orthodontic treatment with clear aligners were screened for this study.…”

“…An additional moderate RoB study showed statistically significant torque loss for central incisors using the Invisalign system . Only one study with moderate RoB showed good torque control with clear aligners for anterior teeth. This study used Nuvola ® aligners and thus, cannot be compared with other aligner (Invisalign, F22) outcomes.…”