An Evidence-Based Perspective on The Efficacy, Applications, and Clinicians’ Perception of Clear Aligners’ Therapy

This lecture will summarize the latest evidence related to the efficacy of clear aligners in achieving various types of tooth movements, their utilization, and predictability in treating different malocclusions including orthognathic surgical cases. In addition to giving an overview of the most common protocols and practices, clinicians implement when using clear aligners in treating their patients. And compare the efficacy of achieving the desired tooth movement between various commercially available aligner systems.

At the conclusion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Correlate the clinicians’ preferences, practices and protocols related to clear aligner therapy to the current evidence on the efficacy and applications of clear aligners.
• Highlight the latest evidence in relation to clear aligner therapy

Guest Speaker:

Dr Arqub joined the UF College of Dentistry on July 1 as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics. Abu Arqub is teaching both pre-doctoral and graduate dental students in clinical and didactic courses, and is serving as a mentor for orthodontics resident master’s projects, intern projects and dental student projects. She is also providing patient care in UF Health Dentistry’s Orthodontics Faculty Practice in Gainesville.

A native of Jordan, Abu Arqub comes to Gainesville following three years in Farmington, Connecticut, at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, or UConn, where she earned her master’s degree in dental science and a certificate of orthodontics – for the second time. Abu Arqub started her education at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, earning her bachelor’s of dental surgery degree in 2003, followed by her master’s of dental science in orthodontics at the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid, Jordan, in 2007.

Following her initial education in Jordan, Abu Arqub went into private practice for five years as an associate orthodontist at Salaita Dental Center from 2007 to 2012 before her first stint at UConn for a fellowship in craniofacial orthodontics from 2013 to 2014. After five more years in private practice at the Sunna Orthodontic Center in Jordan, Abu Arqub returned to the United States and to UConn, to earn her second master’s and orthodontics certificate that brought her to Gainesville.

Abu Arqub is involved in several research projects, has published in over 10 publications, with several pending publications and a number of others in progress, and is cited in more than 100 journals in her career so far. She is a peer reviewer for six publications, including the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, the European Journal of Orthodontics, and the Journal of Biology and Craniofacial Research.

She’s a member of the International Association for Dental Research, the American Association for Dental Research, the American Association of Orthodontics and the Jordanian Dental Association.

Abu Arqub is currently working towards becoming a board-certified orthodontist with the American Board of Orthodontics.