IS IT POSSIBLE TO PUSH THE PROCESS FASTER?
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PUSH THE PROCESS FASTER?
TIME From DIGITAL ORTHODONTICS - Solo Edition by Dr. Bak Nguyen
Yes it is. There are 3 medical procedures that will expedite the alignment process. The first effective procedure is microsurgery (microperforations) combined with a special appliance to stimulate the bone surrounding the roots of your teeth. The idea is to create several small wounds designed to increase the cellular activity around the chosen teeth.
Microperforations can speed movement for a 4-month period by about 30%. Because it will have to be repeated every 4 months, the orthodontic treatment will require multiple sessions of microperforations. This is a more aggressive approach.
The second procedure is also surgical is the corticotomy of the fibers around the selected teeth with a laser. This procedure can accelerate orthodontic tooth movement by as much as 50% for 6 to 8 months. This approach is not only used to speed up the orthodontic treatment but is also considered if faced with a more challenging tooth movement.
The third procedure, which is the much less invasive of the three, is the use of special appliances without surgery. On the appliance side, there are 2 technologies, one utilizing vibration to speed up the bone remolding process with leading brands like AcceleDent, VPro5, and Propel.
The other technology is utilizing low-level light to accelerate orthodontic tooth movement. The leading brand is OrthoPulse. In my experience, it can reduce the total time of treatment by about 25-30% at most.
It will be for each practitioner and their patient to establish what is appropriate for them. With 17 years plus of experience, I prefer to be as conservative as possible. Remember, the promise of modern orthodontic was to be painless and invisible.
That never left my mind. I will utilize means to speed up the aligners treatment when special needs like weddings, jobs, traveling render the treatment time-sensitive. Otherwise, I will not push the body to react faster than its natural pace. This is my preference and my own opinion.
Please keep in mind that each of the three procedures to speed up the aligners' process are extra fees to add on top of the normal cost of orthodontics treatment. These extra fees are normally ranging in the thousands of dollars. For those who are in a hurry, there are solutions available, these are coming with their own bills.
For the rest of us, the use of aligners is efficient and smooth enough without the use of extra procedures. The extra procedures to boost the alignment of the teeth are not a standard of care, they are more of an add-on.