In a review of clinical studies, researchers sought to evaluate the impact that electrical stimulation had on tooth movement during treatment.
In a recent systematic review published in Evidence-Based Dentistry, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of electrical stimulation to speed up tooth movement during orthodontic treatment.
The review was conducted through a search across databases such as PubMed, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Google Scholar, identifying a total of 1,080 studies. Thirteen studies were ultimately deemed eligible for inclusion after screening and removal of duplicates. Out of these, only four studies met the criteria for qualitative analysis.
The researchers assessed the risk of bias and the quality of evidence presented in the selected studies. The analysis focused on the third and fifth months post-treatment initiation and revealed noteworthy differences in tooth movement between control and experimental groups, particularly at the 3-month’s post-treatment mark.
Despite the supportive findings, the researchers highlighted some important limitations encountered during the study, including increased risk of selection and performance bias. Also, due to the restricted number of eligible studies, the researchers said it was difficult to come to any concrete conclusions.
While the study indicated a positive association between electrical stimulation and accelerated orthodontic tooth movement, researchers advocated for further investigation, particularly with human participants, to validate the outcomes.
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