Enabling research and innovation

In 2010, Align Technology began the Research Award Program with the goal to support clinical and scientific orthodontic and dental research in universities across the globe. Since its inception in 2010, we have funded over $2.0 million in research awards. Research has provided insights into various areas including tooth movement efficacy with clear aligner therapy, oral hygiene and microbial bacteria presence or absence with clear aligners, and comparisons in quality of life with aligners as compared to fixed appliances.

Each year, awards are made available for dental research at universities across the globe. All applications are reviewed by an independent academic committee that forwards its recommendations to Align Technology for final selection.

Awards available for 2021 were four one-year awards of up to $25,000 each for dental research at universities in the America’s (includes Canada, Latin America and South America), four one-year awards of up to $25,000 each for dental research at universities in EMEA, and four one-year awards of up to $25,000 each for dental research at universities in APAC.

Eligible applicants for the dental research award component included full- and part-time faculty involved in dental or scientific research at universities at which Invisalign® treatment is available. All award applications received were first reviewed and prioritized in a blind evaluation by an independent academic committee. The final recipients were then determined by Align Technology.

The global interest in research to advance dental and orthodontic treatments continues to grow as evidenced by the increasing number of applications Align Technology receives each year from universities around the world.

Recipients of the 2021 research grants:

The Americas research award recipients for 2021 are:

• University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Edwin H.K. Yen
• University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Anuradha Prakki
• University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Céline Lévesque
• University at Buffalo (Buffalo, New York) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Pramod Philip

The European research award recipients for 2021 are:

• The Hebrew University and Hadassah (Jerusalem, Israel) – Dr. Omer Fleissig
• National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Athens, Greece) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Iosif Sifakakis
• University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (Rome, Italy) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Roberta Lione
• Gothenburg University (Gothenburg, Sweden) – Primary Investigator, Anna Westerlund

The Asia Pacific research award recipients for 2021 are:

• Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Xu Jianguang
• Kunming Medical University (Yunnan, China) – Primary Investigator, Dr. Jiangtian Hu

The funded research studies cover a wide range of topics for projects seeking to better understand treatment in orthodontics and dentistry including, but not limited to:

• Comparing the clinical performance of the index test in detecting supragingival interproximal caries
• Investigating remineralizing properties of polyaspartic acid attached to a resin infiltrant
• Evaluating the effects of mesenchymal stem cells transfer to periodontal ligament on the rate of orthodontic tooth movement
• Role of adaptive immunity and B-cells in orthodontic tooth movement
• Determining the effect of probiotics on oral health
• Examining the effect of Class II elastics on the vertical dimension
• Prevention and progression of caries with the addition of an active agent in aligners
• Comparing the effectiveness of Invisalign mandibular advancement with incremental advancements versus single advancement
• Demonstrating Invisalign® First treatment is effective in treating anterior crossbite