Acceledent Review

What is it?

Acceledent is a device that speeds up the movement of teeth by gently vibrating them. It is a technology first employed in healing bone fractures. It basically makes the jaw bone more forgiving of dragging teeth through them. The device is designed to be used for just 20 minutes per day, and cuts the time needed to straighten teeth in half. 

Does it work?

First, let me state that I am not qualified to answer this question from a clinical standpoint. I can only offer my personal experience as anecdotal evidence. Strictly from a practical standpoint, I have to answer that yes, it does work. It cuts the time in half because without Acceledent my orthodontist would only let me change out my trays every two weeks, and with it I get to change them every week. So yes, it absolutely cut my time in half. But that doesn't really answer the question of if it works, does it? In other words, could I have changed my trays every week anyway? I don't know. I can't find out, and neither can you because responsible orthodontists everywhere only give you enough trays to last between scheduled appointments, so you can't try to speed the process up on your own. I tend to be skeptical in nature, and I just have a tough time believing that it really makes that much of a dramatic difference, but what do I know about osteopathy? For me it was a simple economic decision to use it. My time is scarce and has value, and so does my money. To me it was worth the extra monetary investment to save the time. Which leads us nicely to my next topic...

What does it cost?

I paid $800 extra to add Acceledent to my treatment plan. I have read where people have paid way more than that, mostly when it first came out. I have also read where other people have paid about half that. You are buying the device from your Orthodontist, and I think the price mostly depends on office policies and what kind of volume the office does with Acceledent. 

I have said before that when you hold it in your hand, it in no way seems like it should cost hundreds of dollars. It feels like about a 20 dollar unit with a 60 dollar carrying case (that you'll never ever use). But think of it this way: You're not just paying for the unit, you're paying for the research that went into it, like a college textbook. Hope that makes you feel better. 

You shouldn't (and probably can't) simply buy a used unit to save money. First, you'll need a new mouthpiece for sure not only because they are fitted, but also because ewwww don't use someone else's mouthpiece. And secondly, it is a regulated medical device only for use under an Orthodontist's supervision. You can't even buy a new one from Acceledent directly, you have to buy one from your Orthodontist, and you absolutely shouldn't buy one used. I have even heard (unconfirmed) that the device is timed to stop working after one entire treatment regiment, to prevent a second user. I don't know if that's true or not, but it would be pretty crummy if it was as I could see one family getting more than one use out of it. But at any rate with that being the rumor, I wouldn't risk it. Plus your Orthodontist probably won't allow treatment administered unless you've purchased the device from his or her office anyway. 

What's it like to use?

I have to say, it's no big deal. I thought it would be kind of a pain in the butt to have to use the thing every day, but it's actually become a part of the day that I look forward to. It feels kinda good. It charges by USB, so I keep it in the center console of my truck and it charges as needed every day when I drive to work. I have about a 25 minute commute, so on the way home I use the device. This routine works perfectly for me, and doesn't interfere with my schedule at all.

My Orthodontist told me that I could break up the 20 minutes throughout the day if I wanted to. But this is directly contradictory to the instructions, so I've been doing it all at once. It's a smart unit, and flips on and off at the halfway point so you know where you are in the process. After the 20 minutes, it shuts itself off, so you don't have to time it yourself. If you have to shut it off in the middle of a treatment, when you turn it back on it picks up where it left off. It's got some nice tech to it. 

When I first started using it, I was quite concerned that it wasn't hitting all my teeth. Because of my underbite, my back teeth hit the flat mouthpiece first, and my front do not touch it at all when in that position. In the beginning I was biting down on it quite hard to get all of them to touch it. But when you do that, it no longer vibrates. You see, there's two parts: the mouthpiece and the actual unit. If you clamp down hard on the mouthpiece, the unit vibrates but the mouthpiece doesn't. It's when you loosen up that the mouthpiece really begins to quake. When I spoke to my Orthodontist about this, he seemed unconcerned and advised me just to do the best I can, offering no real helpful advice. The instructions are not much help either. I've read other places that it only really needs three points of contact to work its magic, but have no idea if that's true or not. So what I do is just kind of shift it around while I'm using it, attempting to give all my teeth a chance. I guess it's working (see second section).

To sum up...

If you can swing the extra bucks, get Acceledent. It cuts the time in half, it's not inconvenient, and it feels kinda good when you use it.