How do they make Invisalign?
Tue, Jun 24, 2008
The Invisalign system is one of the most modern ones used in orthodontics, redefining all this treatment. Now, you can forget about the normal braces, the ones made of ceramics or even placed in the “back” side of the teeth. Invisalign straightens your teeth by using some plastic “mouthguard” like trays, you change every 2 weeks, for as long as needed till the end.
If you want more details about Invisalign, please read our presentation article. Now, we’ll try focus on “how it’s made”.
Any orthotontics treatment starts with the initial consultation and this doesn’t break the rule. Your orthodontist will check you with great care and, should you “qualify” for Invisalign, you’ll be ready to undergo the first step to the trays: your molds.
For the Invisalign specialists to really be able to create your UNIQUE trays, they will need perfect impressions. So, don’t be scared if your orthodontist is that determined to have them perfect. They are needed this way, since your entire treatment for all these months will depend on them. At Align Technologies your impressions, the information about the course of treatment and all other initial materials, will be taken by other specialists in orthodontics.
They will make a positive out of your dental impressions; the plaster molds helping them see your teeth in their normal form. Because your orthodontist was so careful with those impressions, now, the Align Technologies specialists almost have your “teeth” there, and you won’t have to travel thousands of miles just so they can also do your consultation.
The plaster models are checked again and “cleaned”. Any residue or imperfection is manually checked and solved, so that the plaster can enter the other stage: 3D processing. State of the art scanners are able to create a three dimensional version of these plasters, and these can now be processed on the computer.
A barrier coating is applied to protect it from the possible damage it can take on the next stage. Once sealed, the models get placed into a chase, then in a mixture of urethane resin and hardener. They spend some hours in a vacuum pressure chamber the resin hardens and makes them look as blocks.
Each tray gets into a destructive scanning machine. This removes paper thin slices 3000 of an inch, while a digital camera takes two dimensional images of each of these slices.
The computer gathers more than 300 such images to create the 3D model.
These materials get sent to the technicians, who check once again if all is correct, the teeth and also the bite as the patient has it. The graphic designers will use a proprietary 3D application to cut each tooth and save it as a separate geometrical unit. The teeth are now separated and re-grouped on each arch in the position they will have once the treatment is complete.
From the initial stage to the final result, there are many intermediate stages that make up the entire treatment. These are carefully considered since the treatment is different for each patient and the entire orthodontic process needs time. As in traditional braces case, we cannot have straight teeth over night, so all these stages are just the normal tooth movement created with each aligner till the teeth are straight and the bite corrected.
The quality check process is next, so that all the process, the teeth movement, prescribed treatment etc. are correct.
The orthodontist who takes care personally of the patient is the one to decide if the treatment is a “go-go”, together with the patient him/herself. This application form is called “clincheck”
After all the treatment was checked and approved the aligners will be created. A series of models are created of photo sensitive thermo plastic, each of them will then be turned into an aligner. The thermo plastic sheet is pressed over each model by the use of heat. Trimming comes next so that the aligners come half a millimeter under the gum line, reducing the chances of sores and making the removal easier for the patient.
The aligners are polished and disinfected in a series of cleaning tanks, each set being then packaged, labeled and shipped to the prescribing orthodontist.
And, if you want to see the film, here are all these words in action 
Tags: Invisalign
August 6th, 2008 at 1:24 am
I enjoyed.recently i watched some video, you can watch too by going to this site.
http://www.invisibraces.com/
August 6th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Welcome to the blog.
I am glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for sharing the resource link with us. Have a nice stay here
January 12th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Please tell me the technique in bonding invisalign atachments.
thank you,
gloria
January 20th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
The one thing sort of skipped over here is that, if everything is done in the very best way possible, then along with the impressions and X-rays, your orthodontist will submit to Align Tech very precise instructions about how particular teeth should be moved, and whether there is anything else special that he would like to be included in the treatment plan (such as attachements on the back as well as the front of teeth, or so forth). The folks at Align Tech who process the records and those who use the computerised system there to create the actual tray by tray plan are not orthodontists – they are just technicians. And this is why it is so important that the prescribing orthodontist bring his expertise to bear in shaping what is to be done right from the very outset.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Properly aligned teeth are an important factor to overall health, especially dental health. Wearing metal braces is almost synonymous to pain. Anyone who had experienced such pain from metal wire braces will attest to this truth. This is simply due to fact that metal braces are manipulated to pull and compress teeth for proper realignment. Invisalign, on the other hand, presses the teeth to the intended direction on a gradual phasing. The clear braces are given in sets of aligners that can be replaced at home every two weeks. In contrast with the traditional metal braces, the less frequency required for an Invisalign procedure to make dental clinic visits can save a lot of money from transportation and dental check-up fees. The frequent clinic visits required for braces make it more cumbersome and time consuming.
Invisalign treatment provides you comfort, convenience, and confidence while you are under treatment. It is the painless, barely noticeable solution to crooked teeth without metal braces!
December 4th, 2009 at 1:19 am
I’m considering Invisalign. I’ve also looked into traditional braces (I had them about 20 years ago and don’t want a metal mouth again). Does anyone have any endorsements or cautions about Invisalign? thanks..
December 4th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I really don’t know of any drawbacks to invisalign. They are clear mouth trays that you wear all of the time, except when you are eating. They are very hard to detect, you can hardly see them. They seem to be a little more expensive then the traditional braces. At our office they run about five thousand dollars, in which some insurances will cover about half of that. thanks..