Over 300 teachers participated in the “Aligner Festival”.

The 9th Japan International Dental Conference was held for the first time in five years from September 29th (Friday) to October 1st (Sunday), 2023. This conference, which had a record number of over 60,000 participants, featured lectures on general dentistry topics and also included the World Dental Show.
Although the event had been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was finally held this year, and I think many teachers were looking forward to it.

This time, I had a chance to receive a request to host a session at the Japan Aligner Orthodontics Research Association JAAO, and I was in charge of a session on aligner topics on Friday, September 29th. . We wanted to make aligner correction more familiar not only to JAAO member teachers but also to teachers and staff who don’t usually have the opportunity to touch aligners, so we have prepared an event under the theme (?) of “Aligner Festival.” We have proceeded.

This is the first time that a session will be held on the topic of aligners at the historic Japan International Dental Conference (held once every four years!), and I have known that Pacifico Yokohama is a very large venue for some time, so I decided to participate. I was very honored to have this opportunity.

The Aligner Festival program was started by the chairman, Dr. Kenji Ojima. This time, famous doctors not only from Japan but also from abroad came to give lectures, and among them, three doctors who can be said to be our masters of aligner orthodontic treatment/orthodontic treatment participated. I did.
First, greetings from Dr. Ravindra Nanda, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Nanda still lectures all over the world and has published many papers, so he is a legend in the world of orthodontics.

Professor Werner Schupp came from Germany, where Professor Ojima had traveled to Germany many times to study. Dr. Shoop is the international editor-in-chief of the Journal of Aligner Orthodontics (JAO), a specialized magazine for aligner orthodontic treatment published by Quintessence Publishing. He was one of the first to launch JAO magazine and has been working hard to help future generations of doctors learn about correct aligner orthodontic treatment from an academic perspective. Recently, a more detailed digital method for diagnosing jaw position has been introduced, and a book has just been published. Also, Dr. Junji Sugawara, a famous orthodontist who is known to be unknown to many people in Japan, also attended with the entire staff of his clinic. Dr. Sugawara also says that he is currently using aligner correction as much as possible if the patient desires it, and has shifted away from wire correction. What an honor it was to have these teachers join us. Originally, I would have liked to have listened to the lectures by the teachers. I was looking forward to the lectures on the second and third days.

From Korea, Mr. Sim Unseob of Garphy, who is in charge of developing shape memory aligners, also participated. Shape memory aligners are a new resin material for aligners that is currently attracting worldwide attention. In the future, the Japan Aligner Orthodontics Study Group will study not only Invisalign, ClearCorrect, and SureSmile, but also in-house aligners that are manufactured in-house by doctors’ clinics. With a broader perspective, we would like to be able to provide better aligner orthodontic treatment to our patients.

Now, Dr. Ojima gave a lecture about the history of aligner orthodontic treatment, various generations, and types of aligner orthodontics. Although aligner orthodontics is still a new treatment method in the long history of orthodontic treatment, it is also a field that continues to evolve by incorporating the digital field.
As the materials and methods have been updated, the current situation is that the things that each teacher handles are different, so first we talked about generational division.

The next session was called “Five Latest Devices that Support Aligner Orthodontic Treatment,” where we heard the latest information from the five sponsoring companies and Dr. Ojima’s views.

・Ray face is a company that sells his 3D facial scan, which is currently attracting attention in aligner correction. It is believed that 3D facial scanning will become essential in the future for improving the diagnosis and accuracy level of orthodontic treatment. Until now, 3D facial scanning has taken a long time to capture, is labor intensive, and has low image quality, but Ray face can capture highly accurate images in about 1 second, making it easy to use in the hospital. Since it is a stylish device to have, I think more and more clinics will be introducing it in the future.
・Nemo is analysis and diagnosis software for aligner orthodontic treatment. This software allows you to combine and analyze intraoral scan data (STL), CT (DICOM), and facial photographs. It seems that this was the first time for some doctors to see this software, which is already in use at Dr. Ojima’s clinic. It is also effective in diagnosing Invisalign orthodontic treatment, and can be used to improve the predictability of conventional aligner orthodontic treatment.
・Corefront is a company that handles 3D printers. In the field of orthodontic treatment, 3D printers have become an indispensable piece of equipment. There is a lot of potential for it to evolve, and I’m really looking forward to it. Corefront is very knowledgeable and specialized in various 3D printers, so they provide solid support even for teachers who are using 3D printers for the first time.
・Dental Monitoring offers dental monitoring that supports remote medical treatment, which is also effective for aligner orthodontic treatment. The new dental monitoring, which has been updated from the previous dental monitoring, has improved imaging accuracy and the imaging method is fun and game-like for patients, so we think it can be used by everyone from children to adults. This is a great tool for those who live far away and cannot easily come to the hospital, or for those who would like to receive a detailed check-up. I’m looking forward to further updates.
・Dentsply Sirona, which handles the vibration-based fitting device VPro5, also talked about fitting that improves the accuracy of aligner orthodontic treatment. In aligner orthodontic treatment, aligner fitting is the key to treatment accuracy, so I think VPro5, which supports this, can support aligner orthodontic treatment depending on how it is used.

This time, we heard from five companies about their respective tools that support aligner orthodontic treatment.

The next session was “Aligner Orthodontic Treatment x Digital Planning,” and four teachers took the stage.
◼️Dr. Kamei: “Progress report on a case of centrifugal movement in which TADs were implanted on the roof of the mouth using a guide manufactured in-house” ◼️Dr. Rumi Matsuoka: “Beneficial for women’s working styles – Aligner orthodontic treatment efforts at our hospital using Nemo” ~” ◼️ Dr. Yuriko Kumagai “What will change in the clinic with in-house aligner orthodontic treatment and delivery aligner orthodontic treatment?” ◼️ Dr. Chisato Dan “Recovery techniques for molar open bite in premolar extraction cases ~ In-house aligner and delivery aligner The talk was about “Management”. We found that doctors are using Nemo for the digital planning required for aligner orthodontic treatment, and are using safe and highly predictable treatment methods.
The next session was “Aligner Correction x Interdisciplinary” and we had 5 teachers speak.
◼️ Dr. Motomu Kudo “Perio-ortho with aligner” ◼️ Dr. Keiji Takagi “A case of multidisciplinary treatment using digital simulation software” ◼️ Dr. Kenji Nakaya “Information using NemoCast to make patients happy” House Mouthpiece Orthodontic Treatment” ◼️ Dr. Yoshio Shimizu “ Orthodontic treatment considered from the jaw position – Things that have changed and things that have remained the same in my 20 years of orthodontic practice ~” ◼️ Dr. Masahiro Yamaguchi “ Aligners, temporomandibular joint disease, prosthetics, etc. Digital Workflow Combining Periodontal Treatment”In most cases, dental treatment cannot be considered alone, such as aligner orthodontics and periodontal treatment, aligner orthodontic treatment and implants, aligner orthodontic treatment and prosthetics (coverings), etc. In the future, the Japan Aligner Orthodontics Study Group would like to include lectures by doctors from various fields about the collaboration between orthodontic treatment and interdisciplinary treatment. Thank you very much for your lecture on the latest treatments of a very high level.

Although there wasn’t enough time during the break, I think the teachers had a great time, meeting up with each other again for the first time in a long time, and participating in trial sessions at the company booths. No, we didn’t have enough time! !

In the final session, we invited Dr. Minamidate, who is active on Aligner Radio, to have a discussion session with Dr. Ojima about Clincheck.
Here, we had a conversation based on the questions we had collected in advance about Clincheck, and some of them said, “I want to hear more!”

This time, we were able to complete the first day of the Japan International Dental Conference with the participation of over 300 doctors and staff. Whether it’s for teachers who have never experienced aligner orthodontic treatment or for those who have already done it, I would be happy if there was at least one discovery or learning.

We would like to thank Mr. Yamagata of Quintessence, the teachers who gave lectures, the companies that sponsored us, and everyone who participated.

The next event will be the 10th Japan Aligner Orthodontics Study Group, which will be held for the first time in three years, so don’t miss it! Please join us.

Other Event Reports