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Microplastic Release from Clear Aligners: a Clinical Study
Summary
Clear teeth aligners, the plastic trays used instead of metal braces, can shed tiny plastic particles into your saliva as you wear and chew with them, according to this study. Researchers found that factors like how long you wear them each day and how you clean them affect how much plastic breaks off, meaning your daily habits could influence how much of this material ends up in your mouth. Since scientists are still learning what micro- and nanoplastics do to the body long-term, this research highlights an overlooked source of exposure worth paying attention to as more people use clear aligners for orthodontic treatment.
This research project aims to evaluate and quantify for the first time in vivo the release of micro- and nanoplastics into human saliva caused by the use of clear orthodontic aligners (primarily polyurethane and PET-G based), investigating how intraoral exposure time under masticatory forces and physical-chemical variations, as well as different device hygiene protocols, influence polymeric surface degradation and particle release rates analyzed via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and automated infrared microspectroscopy ($\mu ext{FTIR}$), thereby addressing a critical gap at the interface of dental biomaterials, oral health, and human toxicology.