Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023 - 38

Clinical Practice
Let's Talk About That
Dr. Patrick Turley Interviews Dr. Mehdi
Peikar About Independent Movers
Dr. Patrick Turley
Manhattan Beach, CA
PCSO Bulletin Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Mehdi Peikar is the inventor and founder of Brius
Technologies. He is an orthodontist who graduated
from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
School of Dentistry. He also holds a master's degree in
quantum mechanics and condensed matter from the
University of Illinois and a PhD in biomechanics from
Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Peikar is the inventor of
more than 60 patents on Independent Movers and
has given more than 50 invited talks about Independent
Movers nationally and internationally.
Dr. Patrick Turley (PT): Where did the concept of
Independent Movers originate?
Dr. Mehdi Peikar
Carrollton, TX
Dr. Mehdi Peikar (MP): First, I want to thank you for
having this chat with me. I also want to thank all the
people who supported me in developing Independent
Movers. The story of Independent Movers goes
back to when I was an orthodontic resident in Iran in
2007. During the first week of my residency, one of
my professors told me the teeth move in orthodontic
treatment an average of 1 mm per month. Immediately
I responded, " So, a regular premolar extraction
orthodontic treatment should not take more than
7 months. I reason that even if we do an absolute
maximum anchorage, the teeth will move at most
7 mm for a normal-size premolar. " My professor's
response was, " Mehdi, you are too inexperienced, and
it is too early for you to conclude such a thing. When
you learn orthodontics, you will know it is impossible
to treat an extraction case in 7 months! " I was not fully
convinced, and I could not stop thinking about why
orthodontic treatment cannot be more efficient. A
few months later, I noticed one of my patients, who
was a teacher and was about 40 years old, coming to
the clinic almost every week and insisting on more
adjustments to help make his orthodontic treatment
faster. After further digging in, I noticed that he was
very insecure about his braces, since his 13-year-old
students were making fun of them. To solve the
problems this teacher had, I came up with the idea of
Independent Movers, which I later called Brius. Independent
Movers are hidden, and the students would
not see them; they don't need frequent adjustments,
so the teacher did not have to take time off to see me
since they are on " autopilot. "
PT: What was the next step after you came up with
the concept and the design of Independent Movers?
MP: I wrote a proposal and submitted it to the
School of Dentistry in Iran, where I was doing my
residency, but it got rejected. They told me it was a
good idea but that I would not be able to manufacture
it, which was kind of true, considering the
situation in Iran. After my residency in Iran, I decided
to go to the United States and study physics, since I
have always loved learning about the fundamental
laws of the universe. I completed my master's degree
in quantum mechanics at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign and then my PhD in biomechanics
at Johns Hopkins. During my education in
the United States, I could not stop thinking about
Independent Movers, so I worked on its design on
the side. I was able to manufacture a functional
prototype of Brius. But I was an orthodontist from
Iran, and I did not have a license in the United
States to treat patients. So I decided to complete a
second residency in orthodontics at UCLA to obtain
my license to practice in this country. During my
residency, I tried Brius on the first patient as a clinical
trial in one of the orthodontic clinics in Los Angeles,
which had terrific results, a huge milestone for Brius.
In those early days, it took me about 200 hours to
design the device for two jaws of one patient. It
required a lot of computational analysis, which was
very time-consuming. Naturally, the following steps
after that milestone were to raise capital, build a
team, and automate the design and manufacturing
of Brius, and the rest is history.
PT: What are the biomechanics of Independent Movers?
What are the advantages?
MP: In Independent Movers, the teeth are connected
to an anchorage base, through custom NiTi [nickel-titanium]
arms. Each unique arm is designed to apply
the optimal force and moment to the tooth to move
it from its initial position to its final ideal position,
almost independent of other teeth. Complicated
computational analysis determines the design and
thickness of that particular arm to apply the best force
and moment (Figure 1).
38
PCSO Bulletin Winter 2023
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023

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