The association between tooth movement and remodelling of surrounding bone is controversial. To analyse the effect of tooth movement on alveolar bone changes in maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). The Embase, Cochrane Library and Medline databases were searched without any language restrictions. Longitudinal studies using CBCT to observe alveolar bone changes of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth during orthodontic treatment were included. Two independent reviewers performed the study selection, data extraction and methodological quality assessment. A total of 26 studies were included in this review, 14 of which were eligible for quantitative synthesis. In extraction cases, meta-analysis showed vertical bone loss on the labial (0.36 mm) and lingual (0.94 mm) sides of maxillary incisors, and lingual bone thickness decreased significantly at the cervical level (0.57 mm). In non-extraction cases, vertical alveolar bone loss was significant on the labial side (0.97 mm) and lingual side (0.86 mm) of mandibular incisors. Subgroup analysis for skeletal class III patients indicated that vertical alveolar bone loss was 1.16 mm on the labial side and 0.83 mm on the lingual side of mandibular incisors. The absence of high-quality studies and the high heterogeneity of the included studies were limitations of this systematic review and meta-analysis. Based on limited evidence, alveolar bone height and thickness, especially at the cervical level, decreased during both labial and lingual movement of anterior teeth.