OrthoAccel Technologies

About OrthoAccel Technologies

OrthoAccel Technologies, a Houston-based medical device company founded in 2007, focused on developing solutions to enhance orthodontic treatment. The company operated in the accelerated orthodontics market, serving orthodontists and their patients who were seeking to shorten the duration of wearing braces or clear aligners. Although now reportedly defunct, the company raised a total of $63.1 million over 16 funding rounds, with its last major financing round being a Series C for $15 million in January 2017. Investors included prominent firms like S3 Ventures, HealthpointCapital, and Piper Jaffray Merchant Banking.

The company's flagship product was AcceleDent, a Class II medical device that received FDA clearance. It was designed to be used by patients for 20 minutes daily in conjunction with their existing orthodontic appliances. The device consisted of a mouthpiece connected to an activator that delivered gentle micropulses, a technology called SoftPulse Technology®. This technology applied light, pulsating forces (0.25 N at 30 Hz) to the teeth and surrounding bone. The principle behind this was that the vibrations could accelerate bone remodeling, the biological process that allows teeth to move, potentially speeding up orthodontic treatment by as much as 50 percent and reducing associated discomfort. The business model was prescription-based, with orthodontists recommending and providing the device to their patients.

The technology for AcceleDent was partly based on the work of Dr. Jeremy Mao, whose research in the early 2000s explored using pulsatile forces to accelerate bone remodeling in the orofacial region. Over the years, OrthoAccel released updated versions of its product, such as AcceleDent Aura in 2013 and AcceleDent Optima in 2017. The Optima model introduced features like a smaller, waterproof design, wireless charging, and Bluetooth connectivity to a companion app. This app allowed patients to track their usage and orthodontists to monitor compliance through a HIPAA-compliant web portal. Despite initial company-sponsored studies suggesting efficacy, the effectiveness of the vibratory technology has been a subject of debate within the orthodontic community, with some independent studies finding no significant impact on the speed of tooth movement.