Incisalign: A Novel Surgical Technique to Integrate Corticotomies in the Invisalign® Orthodontic Treatment

1. Abstract To date, the number of adult patients looking for aesthetic and comfortable alternatives to traditional fixed appliance therapies is increasing significantly. One of the biggest challenges an adult orthodontic patient faces is the time spent wearing the appliance: to accelerate orthodontic tooth movement and shorten treatment duration is thus a topical issue. Corticotomy is an effective and safe technique to accelerate orthodontic treatment: however corticotomies are associated to significant post-operative discomfort and are time consuming. Alternative minimally invasive procedures combining micro-incision with selective tunneling hard and soft tissue grafting and piezoelectic incision, have thus being developed to shorten surgical time and to limit patient discomfort and to increase periodontal safety. The association of mini-invasive surgical approaches and aesthetic and comfortable aplliances, like aligner orthodontics, could increase the acceptance rate of adult patients. On the basis of these considerations and with the aim of a further improvement of minimally invasive procedures an innovative, outpatient, simplified tunneling procedure combining piezoelectric cortical incisions, bone tissue grafting and clear aligners has been designed and will be here described