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Evaluation of exaggerated claims in the abstracts of systematic reviews reporting accelerated orthodontic tooth movement: a meta research analysis

Open Access
|Jul 2022

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Flowchart for the selection and inclusion of articles assessing spin in accelerated orthodontic tooth movement related systematic review articles and reasons for exclusion.
Flowchart for the selection and inclusion of articles assessing spin in accelerated orthodontic tooth movement related systematic review articles and reasons for exclusion.

Orthodontic Journals selected along with their impact factor based on Metrics based on Scopus® data as of April 2021_

Sl.NoJournal NameImpact Factor
1.European Journal of Orthodontics (EJO)1.252
2.American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJODO)1.183
3.Angle Orthodontist1.116
4.The Korean Journal of Orthodontics0.715
5.Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research0.664

Search terminologies and phrases_

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews searched via The Cochrane Library and five impactful journals on orthodontics
“accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“interventions for accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“low-level laser therapy assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“corticotomy assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“electrical current assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“pulsed electromagnetic fields assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“piezocision assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“low-intensity pulsed ultrasound assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“dentoalveolar or periodontal distraction assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“microsteoperforation assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”
“vibration assisted accelerated orthodontic tooth movement AND systematic review”.

Studies having different types of spin_

Type of SpinStudy Year
Misleading ReportingFau V et al.13Orthod Fr.2017Adverse Effect not mentioned
Darwiche F et al.14J Contemp Dent Pract.2020There is limited available evidence about effectiveness of corticotomy assisted accelerated orthodontics. Although the current review indicates that the corticotomy assisted accelerated orthodontic treatment method can fasten the treatment duration by 2.2–3 folds compared to conventional orthodontic treatment.
Elmotaleb M et al.15J Int Soc Prev Community Dent.2019Adverse Effect not mentioned
Figueiredo D et al.16J Clin Exp Dent.2019Study limitations not mentioned
Li Z et al.17Angle Orthod.2021Study limitations not mentioned
Camacho A et al.18Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg.2020Adverse Effect not mentioned
Bakdach W et al. 19Dent Med Probl.2020Low level laser therapy can speed up the rate of tooth movement. However, the overall quality of evidence ranged from low to very low and the clinical significance of the obtained statistically significant differences is questionable.
Imani M et al.20Acta Inform Med.2018Adverse Effect not mentioned
Jedlinski M et al.21Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg.2020Adverse Effect not mentioned
Keerthana P et al.22J Oral Biol Craniofac Res.2020Study limitations not mentioned
Kalemaj Z et al.23Eur J Oral Implantol.2015There is some evidence that LLLT can slightly accelerate OTM but this result is not significant and the effect estimated is not clinically relevant.
Sousa M et al.24Photomed Laser Surg.2014LLL seems to have a demonstrated efficacy, but further studies are warranted to determine the best protocols with regard to energy and frequency.
Mohaghegh S et al.25Int Orthod.2021Adverse Effect not mentioned
Li J et al.26Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg.2021Adverse Effect not mentioned
Ge M et al.27Lasers Med Sci.2015Adverse Effect not mentioned
Mheissen S.28PLOS ONE2020Low quality evidence suggests that piezocision is an effective surgical procedure in accelerating the rate of canine retraction in the first two months and reducing the treatment duration.However, this effect appears to be clinically insignificant.
Alfawal A et al.29Progress in Orthodontics2016There is limited available evidence about the effectiveness of minimally invasive surgically accelerated orthodontics (MISAO). Although the current review indicated that MISAO can help in accelerating canine retraction.
Al- Shahrani I et al.30Complementary Therapies in Medicine2019Findings of the current systematic review suggest a possible benefit with photobiomodulation therapy and tooth movement in orthodontia. However these findings need to be further validated in larger trails using specific standardized characteristics of laser settings to uniform the methodological design that can be used in routine clinical practice.
Gil A et al.31J Craniomaxillofac Surg.2018Corticotomy facilitated orthodontics resulted in decreased treatment time. Few complications and low morbitidy were found. More solid evidence based research is required to support these results.
Kamal A et al.32International Orthodontics2019Adverse Effect not mentioned
Gkantidis N et al.33Journal of Dentistry2014Adverse Effect not mentioned
Iglesias-Linares A et al.34Orthod Craniofac Res2011Adverse Effect not mentioned
Misleading InterpretationJing D et al.35BMC Oral Health.2017Aim of study was to systematically evaluate the available evidences on the efficacy of vibrational stimulus to accelerate OTM, to which they concluded :Within the limitations of this review, weak evidence indicates that vibrational stimulus is effective for accelerating canine retraction but not for alignment. The effects of vibration on pain intensity and root resorption during orthodontic treatment are inconclusive
Aljabaa A et al.36Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop.2018Treatment is beneficial despite lack of evidence.
Dab S et al.37Orthod Craniofac Res.2019Current evidence suggests a very low to low level of certainty (GRADE assessment) in regard to quantified effects after CAOOT. Although CAOOT procedures show insignificant increase in the density following the use of bone graft and anchorage loss, they appear to accelerate the tooth movement during the first few months, to increase the buccal bone thickness and to show good tolerance by the patients; the clinical significance of these changes may be considered questionable.
Viwattanatipa N et al.38Korean J Orthod.2018Treatment is beneficial despite lack of evidence.
Farshidfar N et al.39Int Orthod.2021According to the low certainty of evidence about this topic, providing a definite conclusion is not possible. However, applying I-PRF seems to be efficient in accelerating the OTM of the canines.
Apalimova A et al.40Heliyon2020High heterogeneity among studies made it difficult to draw clear conclusions. However, within the limitations of this review, the corticotomy procedures were able to statistically and clinically produce significant temporary decrease in orthodontic tooth movement rate.
Gkantidis N et al.33J Dent.2014Treatment is beneficial despite lack of evidence.
Almeida V et al.41J Photochem Photobiol B.2016Three articles detected statistically significant differences in induced movement by comparing the orthodontic movement between the experimental and control groups. For the maxilla, there was a statistically significant influence of the laser in three months and, for the mandible, in one month. It may be concluded that there is no evidence that laser therapy can accelerate the induced tooth movement.
Fleming P et al.42Cochrane Database Syst rev.2015The available evidence is of low quality, which indicates that further research is likely to change the estimate of the effect. Based on measured outcomes in the short-term, these procedures do appear to show promise as a means of accelerating tooth movement.
Yi J et al.43Angle Orthod.2017Treatment is beneficial despite lack of evidence.
Misleading ExtrapolationCronshaw M et al.44Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg.2019Overgeneralisation of result for clinical logistics associated with frequent applications supports the concept of patient home delivery use of LED devices.
Hassan A et al.45Saudi Med J.2015Results of study said CAOT was found to accelerate tooth movement by 2–2.5 folds when compared with conventional orthodontic tooth movement. Conclusion- CAOT should be considered with caution.
Eltimamy A et al.46Open Access Maced J Med Sci.2019Prostaglandin showed a marked increase in rate of OTM; while inconclusive evidence was found regarding Prostaglandin in the acceleration of OTM
Parcianello R et al.47Orthod Craniofac Res.2021Twenty-four studies were included in the systematic review. On a specific dose level, epidermal growth factor + liposomes, fibroblast growth factor and prostaglandin E2 + Ca were supported by a moderate level of evidence and rated as highly effective in increasing tooth movement in animal models. Hormones and growth factors may have a relevant impact upon orthodontic tooth movement rate. In specific formulations, prostaglandin E2, fibroblast growth factor and epidermal growth factor showed promising results.
Long Hu et al.48Angle Orthod.2013Among the five interventions, corticotomy is effective and safe to accelerate orthodontic tooth movement, low-level laser therapy was unable to accelerate orthodontic tooth movement, current evidence does not reveal whether electrical current and pulsed electromagnetic fields are effective in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement, and dentoalveolar or periodontal distraction is promising in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement but lacks convincing evidence.
Yi J et al.49Journal of Oral Rehabilitation2017The quality of evidence ranged from very low to low. The short-term (1–3 months) effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT, 5 and 8 J cm2) and corticotomy were supported by low-quality evidence.We conclude that low quality evidence indicates that LLLT (5 and 8 J cm2) and corticotomy are effective to promote OTM in the short term.

Prevalence of different types of spin_

Spin TypeN∑XMeanStd.Dev.Mean ± Std. Dev.Fp-value
Misleading Reporting3822 (57.89%)0.57890.50040.5789 ± 0.5004
Misleading Interpretation3810 (26.3%)0.26320.44630.2632 ± 0.44639.3390.0001*
Misleading Extrapolation386 (15.7%)0.15790.36950.1579 ± 03695
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoj-2022-0028 | Journal eISSN: 2207-7480 | Journal ISSN: 2207-7472
Language: English
Page range: 268 - 277
Submitted on: Jan 1, 2022
Accepted on: Jun 1, 2022
Published on: Jul 14, 2022
Published by: Australian Society of Orthodontists Inc.
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2022 Tarulatha R. Shyagali, Ayesha Rathore, Shanya Kapoor, Abhishek Gupta, Anil Tiwari, Rahul Patidar, published by Australian Society of Orthodontists Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.