Effective mechanical vibration frequency in canine tooth movement acceleration: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial studies.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of various supplementary vibrational frequencies with orthodontic force on the rate of canine movement.

Materials and methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar, with the final search on February 17, 2025. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving participants undergoing orthodontic treatment with upper first premolar extraction, assessed the effect of different vibration frequencies on canine movement rate were included. Study quality was assessed using the Risk of Bias (RoB) 2. A random-effects model (DerSimonian and Laird method) for pairwise meta-analysis (PMA) and a frequentist-based network meta-analysis (NMA) estimated relative effects, with mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated for all comparisons. The certainty of evidence was assessed using the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis tool.

Results: Ten RCTs examined the effects of five vibration frequencies. The RoB ranged from low to high. The PMA found vibrations significantly increased tooth movement (MD = 0.084 mm, 95% CI [0.004, 0.164]). Conversely, NMA showed no significant differences across all comparisons. The Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve ranked 125 Hz as the most effective, followed by 100, 60, 30, and 0 Hz. The confidence in evidence ranged from low to moderate.

Conclusions: The use of supplementary vibration in conjunction with orthodontic force statistically effectively accelerates tooth movement, with higher frequencies showing a tendency to yield better acceleration results.

Clinical relevance: While vibration therapy demonstrated a statistically significant effect on canine movement, the magnitude of this effect was not sufficient to be considered clinically significant for orthodontic treatment. Further research is required to optimize the effectiveness.