Journal of Aligner Orthodontics, 01/2022

Objectives: Social media is a crowded space and posting images and photographs is an effective way to capture attention. People share photos, videos and ideas in order to convey a particular image of themselves to others. Orthodontic treatment can have a significant impact on patients’ lives and could therefore affect the content they share on social networks. The present study aimed to use artificial intelligence to analyse photographs posted on the social media platform Instagram (San Francisco, CA, USA) by orthodontic patients treated with clear aligners. Materials and methods: A total of 20 consecutive patients treated with clear aligners and with a public profile on Instagram were enrolled in the study. All photographs posted by each subject on their Instagram account were collected and evaluated at three time points: during the 6 months prior to the start of orthodontic treatment (T1), over the course of treatment (T2) and during the 6 months after removal of the aligners (T3). A total of 2676 images were collected and each one was analysed using facial recognition software (Amazon Rekognition, Amazon, Seattle, WA, USA). Results: Significant differences were found when analysing the presence of the patient in the images posted at the different time points; if compared to T1, patients occupied a larger area of their photos at T3 (P = 0.0032). Regarding the reliability of the artificial intelligence software, no statistically significant differences were found between the human and software analyses. Conclusion: Orthodontic treatment could have positive effects on patients’ perceived well-being and self-esteem, increasing their degree of openness and personal exposure to others. Keywords: aesthetics, aligners, artificial intelligence, orthodontics, self-esteem, social media

The present case report describes the clear aligner treatment of a 26-year-old woman with maxillary molar distalisation for correction of a unilateral full cusp Class II malocclusion and severe dental midline discrepancy. The patient had previously undergone orthodontic treatment, with her maxillary right first premolar, maxillary left canine and mandibular right first premolar having already been extracted. She presented with a full cusp Class II molar relationship on the right side and a cusp-to-cusp Class II molar relationship on the left. The maxillary dental midline deviated 2 mm to the left whereas the mandibular dental midline deviated 5 mm to the right, resulting in a total midline discrepancy of 7 mm. Invisalign clear aligners (Align Technology, San Jose, CA, USA) were used for orthodontic treatment and the therapy involved molar distalisation and interproximal reduction in the maxilla, extraction of the mandibular left first premolar and molar mesialisation in the mandible. After 30 months of active treatment, a Class I molar relationship was achieved with almost coincident maxillary and mandibular dental midlines. The present case report demonstrates that clear aligners can be an effective tool even in complicated cases.

When associated with anterior open bite, Class II malocclusions have proven to be a daunting challenge for orthodontists. Aligner systems now seem to be able to treat various types of malocclusions, and in recent years, many studies have demonstrated their efficacy in correcting crowding, misalignment and diastemas, and even complex cases involving open bite and poor occlusal relationships. The present case report describes the management of Class II malocclusion and open bite in a growing patient using the Invisalign Teen system (Align Technology, San Jose, CA, USA). A specific protocol was followed during treatment planning: transverse expansion, control of the vertical dimension, and sagittal correction using Class II elastics. Clear aligners proved to be highly effective in the resolution of Class II malocclusion and open bite, inducing molar intrusion and mandibular repositioning.

A 19-year-old woman with a convex facial shape was referred for aesthetic orthodontic treatment. She consented to nonextraction orthodontic camouflage treatment and clear aligner therapy was delivered, characterised by molar distalisation assisted by miniscrew anchorage devices to align the dentition and improve the convex facial shape. Over a total active treatment period of 36 months, the patient’s occlusion and profile improved significantly. Ultimately, the dental casts for the different stages were superimposed to evaluate the efficacy of molar distalisation, and the orthodontists offered some advice to strengthen anchorage during the process. Keywords: adult orthodontics, Angelalign, deep bite, distalisation