The demanding for the efficacy of dental therapy is increasing in modern society. Adult orthodontic patients wish to correct their esthetics and malocclusion in a shorter period of time. The purposes of this paper are to review the history of rapid orthodontic therapy, to discuss the indications, surgical and orthodontic techniques, histological tissue response, and to make a comparison to traditional orthodontic therapy. Two case reports are presented to demonstrate the indications and treatment procedures of surgical-assisted rapid tooth movement in adult periodontally compromised patients and to provide the patient and the dentist a new treatment option.