Development of novel devices for radicular control and rotation in orthodontic aligners

• Grant number: 19/16153-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: August 01, 2020
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Orthodontics
• Principal Investigator: Ingrid Müller Ledra
• Grantee: Ingrid Müller Ledra
• Company: RP Martins - Consultoria, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa
• CNAE: Fabricação de artefatos de material plástico não especificados anteriormente ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais
• Associated researchers: Lídia Parsekian Martins ; Renato Parsekian Martins

Abstract

The search for the best esthetics in orthodontic treatments made the clear aligners the purpose of aligning teeth without the use of conventional metallic orthodontic appliances. In the last years these treatments have become more popular and a more attractive alternative to the traditional treatment of brackets and metallic wires. The aligners are made of a transparent plastic thermoformed on sequential models printed on 3D printers that produce tooth movement when inserted into the arcades. These devices are getting bigger in the world and Brazilian market. The industry has showed an impressive growth with high acceptance of the consumer market. Beyond the aesthetic benefits, in comparison with fixed orthodontics appliances, it was demonstrated in clinical studies that aligners are more comfortable, cause less root resorption, provide better periodontal health, greater predictability of results besides providing a reduction in total treatment time and decrease in the time that patient has to be in the dental office. Since they arrived on the market, the clear aligners has improved to treat not only dental alignment, but also more complex malocclusion. However, these aligners are limited in some important types of movement such as central incisor extrusion, translational movements, and rotations of the canines and premolars. Primarily, this deficiency that prevents such devices from being widely used by the population is due to the fact that the aligner does not lock sufficiently to the teeth to move them efficiently. The need to overcome these limitations led to the use of attachments, made of composite resin to improve movement. Currently, the clear aligner systems on the market employ a variety of attachments, but none can do the important translation and rotation movements on canines or pre-molars teeth satisfactorily. In addition, there is no scientific literature on the subject, since the companies are not interested in fomenting and divulging these findings, preferring that the subject stays as an industrial secret. However, the reason for the failure of existing attachments in the treatment with clear aligners occurs because the attachments in the market are very inefficient. They are used empirically with an knowledge of orthodontists who unfortunately is based on the concepts of mechanics with orthodontic bracket and wire treatments that is completed different from the mechanics of clear aligners. Therefore, this PIPE project proposes to develop two new innovative attachments that can be commercialized with national and international companies and will have their format, position and method of use mechanically validated by load cells that measure forces and moments three-dimensional (OFT). Our technological innovation will bring the missing resource so that clear aligners can become the first choice treatments for Brazilian society. (AU)