Oshawa Braces and AcceleDent Studies Show No Effect. What's the Deal?

There have been some articles recently showing no difference in speed with AcceleDent and non-AcceleDent patients.  Further analysis into the design of the studies is necessary, because it does not seem like they are well designed (click link and look for study by Woodhouse).

Our anecdotal experience for Oshawa braces patients is that we seem to find more rapid movement when using AcceleDent with Invisalign and less of a difference than with braces.  It does not make a lot of sense, but it could be because we are not seeing the AcceleDent braces patients early enough.    Invisalign patients continue to get new movements with every tray and braces patients have to come in to have their braces adjusted for that to happen.  We thought bringing patients in every 4 weeks for braces instead of 8 weeks would make the difference, but it appears we probably have to bring them in more often than that.  This is the problem in the studies being published recently.  Teeth may have already moved and stopped by the time measurements were taken on the patients using AcceleDent and they were using braces only rather than Invisalign.

The flipside is that we have tried to reduce the number of days per tray without using AcceleDent and found that we cannot change trays nearly as often.

In terms of comfort, we had patients who started without it and then used it mid-treatment.  They say there is a world of difference.  We also have patients who have left their unit somewhere on business or lost it on a vacation and desperately want to buy a new unit.  We have had braces patients who insisted on having their braces off for discomfort, but were offered a unit and were able to be comfortable for the rest of their treatment.  The studies say there is no difference in discomfort but they are comparing this across different people, not within the same person.  Each new patient has no idea what they are supposed to feel and there will be some discomfort.  Again, from an anecdotal point of view, our patients have expressed more comfort when using the unit than not.

This post isn't out there trying to be pro-AcceleDent, but simply to discuss our experience.  With over 200 cases treated now with Invisalign and AcceleDent, we have treated one of the largest patient populations using it.  There are several cases we would not have attempted with Invisalign unless we used AcceleDent.  Part of this is because using the unit acts like a high powered "chewie", which seats the aligners well against the teeth.  It seems like more studies that are well designed are necessary to come up with a definitive conclusion on its efficacy.

In summary, our offices experience has found little difference in braces treatment timing (although we may need to see patients more often) but increase comfort, and a difference in Invisalign treatment with AcceleDent in terms of proper tracking, speed, and comfort level.