A survey of Invisalign ClinCheck modifications and the types of cases treated using Invisalign: General dentists vs. orthodontists

Invisalign (Align Technology, Santa Clara, Calif.) uses a series of clear, removable aligners to incrementally move teeth and correct many types of malocclusions. Treatment outcome may depend not only on the experience of the Invisalign provider with the Invisalign virtual 3-D setup and ClinCheck software, but also on the provider's orthodontic training and experience, in generating a complete treatment plan.;The purpose of this study was to determine if the class of malocclusions treated with Invisalign, and the number of modifications using the Invisalign ClinCheck software vary for general dentists compared to orthodontists. A four-question survey was sent to Invisalign providers comprised of 100 general dentists and 100 orthodontists located in Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, New York City, and New Jersey.;Orthodontists were 2 times more likely to treat class I crowding cases (> 6mm & extraction) than general dentists (p = 0.0090), and were 3 times more likely to treat class II extraction cases, i.e. 4-bicuspid extraction (p = 0.0230). Additionally, orthodontists were 2 times more likely to treat class III cases, but not with statistical significance (p = 0.0540). A trend existed given that 9 of 45 general dentists said they make 0 modifications using the Invisalign ClinCheck software before approval of aligners; whereas 4 of 53 orthodontists made 0 modifications (p = 0.0701). Orthodontists treated a greater number of Invisalign cases than general dentists (p < 0.0001).