Mechanical vibration as an adjunct to clear aligner treatment for accelerating tooth movement: A review

Abstract

Many patients, particularly adults, may prefer clear aligner treatment due to its esthetics and ease
of use. Some studies have shown that mechanical vibration can affect the rate of tooth movement
and other aspects of orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this systematic review was to
substantiate the effects of vibration as an adjunct to clear aligner treatment. A comprehensive
search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Scopus and also hand searching of reference
lists was conducted for finding published studies up to March 2021. Two authors reviewed the
titles and abstracts independently to select relevant studies and the full texts where there was
some skepticism. Seven papers were included in this study following removing duplicates and
irrelevant studies, four of which were randomized controlled trial and three were retrospective
studies. In the majority of studies, High‑Frequency Vibration (HFV) has shown to be effective in
accelerating tooth movement and reducing the exchange interval of aligners. Little data have
advocated that HFV can increase bone density, reduce pain or root resorption. It seems that HFV
is more effective than low frequency vibration in patients treated with clear aligners. Based on a
low level of certainty, HFV can increase the rate of tooth movement and decrease the exchange
interval of clear aligners. Further investigation is necessary to clarify the effects of vibration on
pain and discomfort, bone density, and root resorption.
Key Words: Clear aligner appliances, orthodontic tooth movement, vibratio