<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec>
<h3>Objectives</h3>
<p>To investigate the current commercially available clear aligners related to brands, companies, Google trends, and marketing claims presented on their official websites.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Materials and methods</h3>
<p>A search was conducted in October 2020 to identify the relevant web-based information, using three languages (English, Chinese, and Korean) and search terms “clear aligner”, <inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="graphic/j_aoj-2022-0025_ingr_001.jpg"></inline-graphic>, <inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="graphic/j_aoj-2022-0025_ingr_002.jpg"></inline-graphic>, and <inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="graphic/j_aoj-2022-0025_ingr_003.jpg"></inline-graphic> in four search engines (Google, Bing, Baidu, and Naver) to identify current clear aligner companies. Each company website was reviewed and assessed for its marketing claims.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Results</h3>
<p>A total of 75 clear aligner brands were identified and included in the study, and 280 claims from their official websites were analysed. Most (70.7%) of the companies made claims regarding “aesthetics”, 66.7% made claims regarding “increased comfort”, 58.7% made claims regarding “shorter treatment time”, and 56.0% of the companies made claims regarding “superior material”. Other claims were made regarding their “novel technology”, “superior hygiene”, “tracking Apps”, “remote monitoring”, and “reduced in-office visits”. Of these marketing claims, only 4.5% cited references supporting the company’s website claims; however, the references were mainly derived from internal company research.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<h3>Conclusions</h3>
<p>Using three languages (English, Chinese, and Korean), 75 different brands of clear aligners were currently found online. Most of the marketing claims from the clear aligner companies’ official websites were not referenced to quality scientific studies. Clinicians and patients should critically appraise the content of company claims and advertisements.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Objectives
To investigate the current commercially available clear aligners related to brands, companies, Google trends, and marketing claims presented on their official websites.


Materials and methods
A search was conducted in October 2020 to identify the relevant web-based information, using three languages (English, Chinese, and Korean) and search terms “clear aligner”, , , and  in four search engines (Google, Bing, Baidu, and Naver) to identify current clear aligner companies. Each company website was reviewed and assessed for its marketing claims.


Results
A total of 75 clear aligner brands were identified and included in the study, and 280 claims from their official websites were analysed. Most (70.7%) of the companies made claims regarding “aesthetics”, 66.7% made claims regarding “increased comfort”, 58.7% made claims regarding “shorter treatment time”, and 56.0% of the companies made claims regarding “superior material”. Other claims were made regarding their “novel technology”, “superior hygiene”, “tracking Apps”, “remote monitoring”, and “reduced in-office visits”. Of these marketing claims, only 4.5% cited references supporting the company’s website claims; however, the references were mainly derived from internal company research.


Conclusions
Using three languages (English, Chinese, and Korean), 75 different brands of clear aligners were currently found online. Most of the marketing claims from the clear aligner companies’ official websites were not referenced to quality scientific studies. Clinicians and patients should critically appraise the content of company claims and advertisements.

Clear aligners brands and marketing claims: An overview of available information on the web

Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago

Australasian Orthodontic Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Objectives
To investigate the current commercially available clear aligners related to brands, companies, Google trends, and marketing claims presented on...

Clear aligners brands and marketing claims: An overview of available information on the web

Published Online: Jul 14, 2022

Page range: 252 - 262

Received: Feb 01, 2022

Accepted: Jun 01, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoj-2022-0025

© 2022 Cynthia Shi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.