To evaluate the skeletal, dento-alveolar and soft tissue morphology changes after maxillary molar distalization by clear aligner therapy and identify the significant efficacy of molar distalization,18 patients in conformity with the inclusion criteria were selected. Pre- and post-treatment Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) were examined to measure the angular and linear parameters. All subjects were completed non-extraction clear aligner treatment by distalizing molars. A paired-t test and independent-samples t-test were performed to observe the difference between before and after treatment and the difference between the first molar and second molar respectively. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Predicted movement rate was calculated by the formula: (actual movement(mm)/planned movement(mm))×100%. Most variables of pre- and post-treatment showed no statistical difference(P<0.05),excepting SNA angle (P<0.05) and Upper lip/E-line linear (P<0.01) due to incisor retraction. The first and second molar revealed a translation movement without significant tipping and vertical movement. Clear aligners provided a high predictability (83.44 %) of distalization the maxillary first molar, and 85.14 % of the maxillary second molar. Clear aligners can effectively achieve distal displacement of molars.

KEY WORDS: Morphological characteristics; Clear Aligners; molar distalization; Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).

CUI, J. Y.; TING, L. ; CAO, Y. X.; SUN, D. X.; BING, L. & WU, X. P. Morphology changes of maxillary molar distalization by clear aligner therapy. Int. J. Morphol., 40(4):920-926, 2022.