From Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2023 | Pages 33-38
Many studies have been undertaken to understand the limitations and benefits of aligners, including systematic reviews with meta-analyses. However, there are very few comprehensive reviews of the current evidence. This literature review provides an up-to-date summary of various aspects of clear aligner therapy, including patient compliance, clinical effectiveness, social interactions and iatrogenic effects.
Clear aligners are an aesthetic alternative to fixed appliances and have come a long way since their conception as a ‘tooth positioner,’ in the 1940s. In 1946, Kesling stated that a series of these positioners could be used to achieve more ambitious tooth movements when used as an adjunct to conventional treatment.1 Many aligner systems were created, but often their scope was limited and required clinicians to take multiple impressions throughout the course of treatment. In 1999, Align technology introduced Invisalign, which used computer aided manufacturing and design principles to mitigate the need for multiple impressions.2 This encouraged more clinicians to engage with this mode of orthodontics, thus resulting in its increase in popularity. Currently, Invisalign and other major clear aligner systems can use specific force delivery via composite precision attachments, generating force vectors to permit a range of specific tooth movements. Once thought to be limited to tipping only, aligners have developed into a system that can attempt most movements achieved with fixed appliances.
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