Impact of photobiomodulation and low-intensity pulsed ultrasound adjunctive interventions on orthodontic treatment duration during clear aligner therapy

Abstract

Objective: To assess the efficiency of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) and photobiomodulation (PBM) interventions in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement during clear aligner therapy (CAT).

Materials and methods: This retrospective study was carried out on the records of 84 subjects who were treated using CAT. Twenty-eight patients were treated using CAT with a daily use of LIPUS for 20 minutes, 28 patients were treated using CAT with a daily use of PBM for 10 minutes, and 28 patients were treated using CAT alone. The total duration of treatment was recorded for all patients. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey test were used to assess whether there was any significant difference in total treatment duration among the three groups (P < .05).

Results: The mean treatment durations in days were 719 ± 220, 533 ± 242, and 528 ± 323 for the control, LIPUS, and PBM groups, respectively. The LIPUS group showed a 26% reduction, on average, in treatment duration when compared with the control group, whereas the PBM group showed an average 26.6% reduction in the treatment duration when compared with the control group. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences among the groups (P = .011). Treatment durations were significantly reduced in the LIPUS and PBM groups as compared with the control (P = .027 and P = .023, respectively), with no statistically significant differences between the LIPUS and PBM groups (P = .998).

Conclusions: Daily use of LIPUS or PBM as adjunctive interventions during CAT could reduce the duration of orthodontic treatment.

Keywords: Accelerated orthodontic treatment; Clear aligner therapy; LIPUS; Photobiomodulation.

© 2021 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.

Figures

Figure 1.

Mean treatment duration (days) with standard error bars for the LIPUS, PBM, and control groups.