Author’s Accepted Manuscript

Orthodontic clear aligner treatment

Timothy T. Wheeler

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.sodo.2016.10.009
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To appear in: Seminars in Orthodontics
Cite this article as: Timothy T. Wheeler, Orthodontic clear aligner treatment,
Seminars in Orthodontics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.sodo.2016.10.009
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 Orthodontic Clear Aligner Treatment

Timothy T. Wheeler, DMD, PhD

Professor, Department of Orthodontics

University of Florida College of Dentistry

Gainesville, FL

Diplomate American Board of Orthodontics

Corresponding Author:

Timothy T. Wheeler, DMD, PhD

PO Box 100444 JHMHSC

Department of Orthodontics

University of Florida College of Dentistry

Gainesville, FL 32610

Telephone – 352-273-5700

Email: [email protected]
Abstract

Orthodontic treatment with clear aligners is a quickly growing sector of

orthodontic treatment. Both the increase in awareness of esthetics and the

increase in orthodontic treatment demand from adults has fueled the demand for

a more esthetic orthodontic treatment technique. The public demand for fast and

esthetic treatment has been addressed by other dental sectors with approaches

such as “instant orthodontics” in which crowns or veneers are used to mask

malalignment or with products that claim to use “new techniques” to simply align

anterior teeth without addressing other aspects of the occlusion that may need

treatment to maintain a healthy dentition. Obviously, these types of approaches

raise ethical concerns and the need to educate the public as to the shortfalls of

these types of approaches.

Fixed appliances have become smaller and more esthetically acceptable with the

development of ceramic brackets, but they are still more noticeable than clear

aligners. Dozens of companies worldwide now offer some type of clear aligner

orthodontic product. While research has been done in the area of clear aligners,

much of the early research was focused on trying to discredit the use of aligners

as an option for orthodontic treatment except for minor crowding or spacing

cases. Even so, there was some research that was done to further improve and

progress the clear aligner technique. This is still a rapidly developing area and as

a result, much of the literature consists of case reports.

Prior to 1998, orthodontic clear aligner treatment was predominantly for very minor tooth

movement, usually at the end or orthodontic treatment or to treat minor alignment

relapse. In 1998, Align Technology, Inc. introduced Invisalign® to the orthodontic

market. It used computerized 3D technology to visualize and move the teeth in a virtual

model. This technology along with advances in 3D printing and manufacturing

efficiencies allowed aligners to be produced in a large numbers and in a timely fashion.

Initial cases were mild crowding or spacing1 which progressed to cases that needed

expansion and/or classification correction. 2 With these case studies that showed the

concept would work, another technique was developing to treat orthodontic patients.

This clear aligner technique is continually evolving because of research and

development in materials, manufacturing techniques, auxiliaries, and computer

programming of tooth movement. The aligners available today are vastly different than

those available in 2000. Many different types of aligners are available today throughout

the world and marketed to treat everything from mild to more severe malocclusions.

This paper will discuss the current techniques used: for problems that may arise during

treatment with aligners, and for treatment of the more challenging aspects of various

malocclusions. The available literature for aligner treatment has grown over the years

with several clinical trials being done that examine how well the predicted outcomes

compare with the actual outcomes. 3-5 However, while this is informative data, it is only

relevant to the aligner system and materials used and may become dated quickly

because of the advanced made in various technologies. As a result, most of the

studies.

Treatment with clear aligners

Regardless of the aligner system chosen, the practitioner should dictate the treatment

plan which results in how the aligner treatment proceeds and where the teeth are to be

moved. This is true if aligners are fabricated from a series of models where the teeth

have been manually manipulated or from digital models in which the teeth are

manipulated by computer or technicians. The following techniques can be used with

most aligner systems, unless specifically noted, to treat the following orthodontic

problems.

Openbite

As with fixed appliances, anterior openbites can be addressed by either intrusion of

posterior teeth to allow the mandible to rotate closed, or by extrusion of the anterior

teeth, or a combination of both. It is up to the practitioner to decide the best approach

within the framework of treatment objectives and stability.

Extrusion of anterior teeth can be accomplished with attachments. 6-8 Attachment shape

and location have been shown to affect retention of aligners.9, 10 Hennessy11 wrote a

recent article describing the optimized attachments developed for use with Invisalign®

including those for extrusion of anterior teeth which are pre-activated beveled

attachments. Even with extrusion of anterior teeth, an advantage of using aligners for
treatment is the posterior intrusive affect that the aligners will have on the posterior

teeth which also facilitates closure of the anterior openbite.6 This posterior intrusive

affect is beneficial in treating cases with crowding and minimal overbite. With fixed

appliances, posterior arch expansion may tip the molars or premolars with equal ease.

This tipping results in extrusion of the lingual cusp. In turn, the anterior openbite is

made worse. Also with fixed appliances, if crowding is resolved with incisor

proclination, the outcome of this tipping is a relative intrusion of the teeth again making

the openbite worse. Figures 1, A and B show a case with crowding and minimal

overbite. Aligners were able to control the vertical and maintain the overbite while also

resolving the crowding. Unfortunately, the literature contains only anecdotal evidence

from case studies. National Dental PBRN is currently conducting a prospective clinical

trial to examine anterior openbite treatment success and stability which will fill a void in

the literature.

Extrusion of anterior teeth with attachments and intrusion of posterior teeth with the

aligner could take an extended amount of time depending on the amount necessary or

may need either a greater force(particularly for posterior intrusion). In these instances,

TADs have been used to facilitate both types of movements. 12, 13

Deepbite

Deepbites are generally treated by anterior intrusion which can be difficult with aligners.

To facilitate this movement, Invisalign® uses attachments on the premolars for

anchorage while an active intrusive force is place on the incisors (Figure 2) as well as

bite ramps built into the lingual of the aligner of the upper anterior teeth that act as a bite
plane. Incisor intrusion can be difficult with aligners or take a protracted amount of time

and no data exists on the effectiveness of these auxiliaries. In these instances,

intrusion can be facilitated with TADs. Bowman12 shows a very nice method to intrude

upper incisors by creating a dimpled extrusion of the buccal surface of the aligner with a

Hilliard plier (Dentsply Raintree Essix Glenroe, Sarasota, FL) and then cutting a notch.

Vertical elastics are then used from the notched aligner to TADs placed in the anterior

buccal vestibule to provide the intrusive force.

Space Closure

Closure of extraction spaces presents the challenge to finish with parallel roots. While

this is true with any appliance, when using fixed appliances, root-tip bends can be

placed in archwires as necessary to finish the case. However, aligners present a

unique challenge because the goal is to move the teeth with pure translation in order to

prevent the tipping from occurring in the first place because a tipped tooth is difficult to

correct and can take a prolonged time to upright with aligners alone. As a result, when

using aligners, methods to address this issue include aligners in combination with fixed

appliances,2 auxiliaries placed on the tooth to change the point of force application,14, 15

TADs to eliminate unnecessary forces on anchorage,14, 16 and attachments6, 15, 17 to

accomplish this movement. The use of aligners and fixed appliances is particularly a

good option when a molar needs to be moved mesial to close an extraction space or

when roots are long which increases the probability of tipping as shown in figure

X??X??X. TADS have been used as anchorage to avoid placing forces on teeth that

could cause unnecessary tipping as described by Bowman.16 Choi14 describes a

unique method using a segmental aligner for the anterior teeth and using TADs to
retract this segment. While no clinical trials have been done, case studies have shown

that large attachments placed on the teeth to be moved may help prevent tipping,6, 15

however, experience tells us that this is highly unpredictable. Samoto and Vlaskalic

recently published treatment of an extraction case treated using Invisalign® and used

knowledge of the biologic tooth movement cycle to control tooth movement and tipping

by sequencing which teeth were moving at any particular time and altering the aligner

wear time.17 Preferably, attachments could be designed to help control the tooth

movement or the anchorage segments. Womack15 and Boyd6 have demonstrated that

vertical or horizontal attachments as shown in Figure 3A on the molars, premolars, or

canines can help, but there is no reported data that shows efficacy, and as shown in

Figure 3B and 3C this does not always work and can result in molar tipping which is

also frequently seen in treatment with fixed appliances as well. Correction of this tipping

often requires a period of fixed appliances as shown in Figure 3D and 3E. Recently,

Invisalign® developed attachments to control posterior anchorage in cases requiring

extraction and retraction of anterior teeth. These strategies work by placing a force that

creates a moment in the opposite direction to counter the tipping moment (Figure 4A).

Since these are new, little has been reported, but as seen in Figure 4B and 4C after 6

months of treatment, the upper posterior anchorage segment appears to be maintaining

its original position.

Crossbites

Difficulty in the correction of crossbites is a factor of location in the mouth and the depth

of the bite. Minor anterior or posterior crossbites with a bite depth up to about 10% are

usually not difficult to treat with just the usual aligner treatment. Anterior or posterior
crossbites with a bite depth greater than approximately than 10% usually requires some

other considerations to open the vertical to allow the tooth in crossbite to clear the

opposing teeth such as anterior bite ramps that are available on the Invisalign ® aligners

or placing cold-cure acrylic on the occlusal surface of the aligners while the crossbite is

being jumped. In order to avoid occlusal trauma to the teeth as the crossbite is

correcting, the aligners may need to be worn full-time including while eating until the

crossbite is jumped. Crossbite correction of posterior teeth as shown in Figure 5A may

be facilitated by placing attachments on the lingual (Figure 5B) and/or using crossbite

elastics (Figure 5C) when the movement is programed in the aligners. The result of this

type of setup is shown after 3 months in Figures 5D and 5E.

Extrusion / Settling

Often a ClinCheck for Invisalign will require the teeth to extrude into the final desired

occlusion. While attachments are automatically placed to facilitate this movement when

a threshold of greater than 0.4mm is reached, movements less than this are expected to

occur unaided. Frequently, this does not occur and gingival beveled attachments can

manually be placed on the desired teeth in the ClinCheck. As another option, vertical

elastics from buttons can also be used to facilitate this movement independent of the

magnitude of the movement (Figure 6).

Class II Correction

The correction of a Class II malocclusion with aligners can be treated much like as it is

done with fixed appliances. While no clinical trials have been done to determine which

methods might be the better choice with aligners, treatment options range from
distalization of the upper dentition to protraction of the lower dentition or a combination

of both. In younger patients, mandibular growth can also help in the correction of the

Class II malocclusion. Fischer18 presented several cases where he used attachments

on molars and premolars to sequentially distalize the maxillary dentition to a Class I

without the use of Class II elastics. In one of the cases, 2nd molars were extracted to

facilitate the distalization. As in space closure, pure translation during distalization can

be difficult with aligners or fixed appliances. Often the posterior teeth are tipped back

and care must be taken to then, distalize the root and preventing the crown from

relapsing and tipping forward. This movement can be difficult with aligners due to force

necessary to create the moment that will distalize the root. In addition, anchorage for

the distalization comes from the anterior teeth and flaring or anterior movement may

occur. This is usually controlled by using the lower arch for anchorage with Class II

elastics which can then also assist in distalizing the upper dentition19 as well as

protracting the lower dentition. As with space closure, TADs placed either in the buccal

or the palate can be used as anchorage to distalize the upper dentition to Class I or to

retract the anterior teeth after extraction of upper first premolars.16 Both the Carriere

Distalizer19, 20 and the Mara21 appliance have been used to initially create a class I

molar followed by treatment with aligners to finish the case. Arreghini et al 22 described

treating a patient with a Runner which is a series of aligners with ramps build on the

occlusal surfaces that resemble Twin Block and are meant to advance the mandible and

mandibular dentition. This works well in growing children to take advantage of growth in

correcting the Class II malocclusion.

Class III
Treatment approach to Class III malocclusions with aligners are similar to those with

fixed appliances. Class III elastics and either maintaining dental compensations or

creating dental compensations are often done when a Class III malocclusion is treated

by orthodontics only. When surgery is a consideration, the case is decompensated

prior to surgery. TADs have been used to distalize the lower dentition in an effort to

minimize some compensations, but this approach has its limits and may not full correct

the Class III malocclusion.23

Concluding Remarks

Over the last 16 years, clear aligner treatment has developed from a technique of only

treating mild crowding or spacing of anterior teeth to a technique that can be used to

treat almost any type of orthodontic problem. However to do so, one needs to

understand the limitations of the appliance and to be able to think “out of the box” in

treatment planning. Aligner materials and attachments will continue to improve which

will allow aligners to fit better and for longer periods of time and result in better

outcomes. Research into tooth movement and particularly tooth movement mechanics

with aligners and the variation in these movements will allow further development of

computer algorithms that are used in sequencing aligner tooth movement. Even so,

with the amount of variation that is seen in orthodontic treatment, it will always take a

knowledgeable practitioner to treatment plan and monitor treatment with aligners.

References

1. Boyd RL, Miller RJ, Vlaskalic V. The Invisalign System in Adult Orthodontics: Mild Crowding and
Space Closure Cases. J Clin Orthod. 2000;XXXIV:203-212.
2. Boyd RL, Vlaskalic V. Three-Dimensional Diagnosis and Orthodontic Treatment of Complex
Maloccluslons With the Invlsalign Appliance. Semin Orthod. 2001;7:274-283.
3. Buschang PH, Ross M, Shaw SG, Crosby D, Campbell PM. Predicted and actual end-of-treatment
occlusion produced with aligner therapy. Angle Orthod. 2015;85:723-727.
4. Kravitz ND, Kusnoto B, BeGole E, Obrez A, Agran B. How well does Invisalign work? A prospective
clinical study evaluating the efficacy of tooth movement with Invisalign. Am J Orthod Dentofacial
Orthop. 2009;135:27-35.
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predicted tooth movements achieved? J Orofac Orthop. 2012;73:365-376.
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Clin Orthod. 2007;XLI:525-547.
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aligners. Angle Orthod. 2013;83:913-919.
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Clin Orthod. 2010;XLIV:501-508.
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aligner material on aligner retention. Angle Orthod. 2015;2015:934-940.
10. Jones M, Mah J, O'Toole B. Retention of Thermoformed Aligners with Attachments of Various
Shapes and Positions. J Clin Orthod. 2009;XLIII:113-117.
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Aligners Part 2 Intrusion, Rotation, and Extrusion. J Clin Orthod. 2015;XLIX:162-171.
13. Giancotti A, Germano F, Muzzi F, Greco M. A Miniscrew-Supported Intrusion Auxiliary for Open-
Bite Treatment with Invisalign. J Clin Orthod. 2014;XLVIII:348-358.
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treatment of bialveolar protrusion without conventional brackets. Am J Orthod Dentofacial
Orthop. 2009;135:671-681.
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16. Bowman SJ, Celenza F, Sparaga J, Papadopoulos M, Ojima K, Lin J. Creative Adjuncts for Clear
Aligners Part 1 Class II Treatment. J Clin Orthod. 2015;XLIX:83-94.
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Figure 1: A. Initial photos of 12yr 2mo old female with Class III tendency, moderate

upper and lower crowding and a shallow overbite. B. Final photos after 16 months of

treatment with Invisalign. Aligners provide an intrusive force on the posterior teeth

which helps control the vertical dimension. As a result, crowding was resolved without

creating an anterior openbite.

Figure 2: Attachments placed on premolars provide anchorage for the intrusive force

place on the upper and lower incisors. If no attachments were placed, the anterior

intrusive force would cause the posterior of the aligner to lift off the teeth which would

result in little, if any, intrusive force applied.

Figure 3: A. Rectangular attachment was place on the lower 1st molar as a preventative

to crown tipping during mesial movement of the molar needed for correction of the

Class II. However, molar tipping may occur as seen in B and C. This can be corrected

easily with a period of fixed appliances as seen in D and E.

Figure 4: A. Attachments on the upper molars and 2nd premolar are pre-activated when

placed which creates a clockwise moment to oppose the counter-clockwise moment

created when retracting the anterior teeth. B shows the clincheck illustrating where

teeth should be after 6 months of treatment which is confirmed in C.

Figure 5: A. Patient with crossbite of all premolars and molars was treated with lingual

attachments on the upper premolars (B) and crossbite elastics from buttons placed on

the lingual of the upper molars and buccal of the lower molars (C). Crossbite correction

can be seen in a scan after 3 months of treatment (D) and the clinical treatment photo

(E).
Figure 6: Clincheck showing precision cut-outs where buttons are places for vertical

elastics to help settle the posterior occlusion.