11_th ICCO Study Club Meeting

Description

Topic: Aligners: factors affecting effectiveness, compound and microplastic release, and future materials and applications.

The wide use of aligners before the substantiation of effects related to their ageing pattern has led to concerns on the release of compounds and microplastics because of chemical - mainly hydrolytic degradation - and attrition/wear of the plastic compound. This pattern has multifaceted effects entailing: a. Force relaxation which decreases the force applied to a given deformation thereby affecting the efficiency of tooth movement, given that this effect sets in as early as hours after the exposure of the aligner to the oral environment. b. Compound release arising from the aligner and the composite resin attachment because of the fitting of an activated aligner on attachment-bonded crowns. c. Microplastic release as evident by recent investigations. The presentation will review the reasons for the reduced efficiency of aligners as shown by the necessity for additional aligners to meet the objectives set by the projected tooth movement and propose strategies to limit the unwanted effects associated with their use.

More information here.

Speaker

Prof. Dr. mult. Theodore Eliades
Director, Clinic of Orthodontics and Pedriatic Dentistry, University Center for Dental Medicine, Zurich

(DDS, MS, Dr Med Sci, PhD, DSc, FIMMM, FRSC, FInstP, FDSRCSE). Professor and Director: Clinic of Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry, Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich. Qualified in Dentistry in Athens, Greece, completed his Orthodontic residency at the Ohio State University, and earned a Master of Science from Ohio State, a doctorate from the University of Athens, and a PhD and DSc (the first awarded to an orthodontist in UK) from the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics (first dentist elected), the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (UK), and FDS of the Royal College of Surgeons (Ed). Prof. Eliades is Editor-in-Chief of the Korean Journal of Orthodontics, has taught his orthodontic biomaterials courses to postgraduates of 20 Universities in 14 countries on 4 continents and is the recipient of the 2024 EOS distinguished teacher award.