CDE1867 - ACDE Webinar: Navigating the Biomechanics of Clear Aligner Treatments
Course Description
Clear aligner therapy (CAT) has rapidly become an integral modality in orthodontics, driven largely by increasing demand among adult patients seeking esthetic treatment options. While diagnostic principles remain unchanged, the biomechanics, staging, and clinical delivery of CAT differ in key ways from fixed appliance therapy. As aligners are increasingly used in general dental practice, it is essential to understand both the scope and the limitations of CAT, as well as the reasons why digitally simulated treatment plans often fail to match real-world outcomes. This course will review the biomechanical principles unique to CAT, highlight strategies to address discrepancies between planned and achieved results, and examine evidence-based approaches for corrections of some malocclusion using CAT.Learner Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- Review biomechanical principles of orthodontic tooth movement as applied to fixed appliances and clear aligners
- Evaluate some of the current evidence on tooth movement with CAT
- Recognize why digitally simulated treatment outcomes may diverge from clinical outcomes and identify strategies to minimize these gaps
Notes
Speaker
Dr. Siddharth Vora is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Dentistry. He received his Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Mumbai (2002), his PhD in Oral Biology from Boston University (2009), and his Master of Science in Dentistry with a Certificate in Orthodontics from the University of Washington (2012). Before joining UBC, Dr. Vora served as a faculty member at the University of Washington and as a Senior Fellow at the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. Dr. Vora’s research ranges from craniofacial growth and pediatric sleep apnea to advanced 3D imaging, artificial intelligence in dentistry, and the biomechanics of orthodontic tooth movement. Across these areas, he integrates clinical studies with analytical and computational approaches to better understand growth, development, and treatment outcomes.