Seven things you may not know about Invisalign

1)   It wasn’t invented by dentists. Invisalign was originally conceived by two Stanford University MBA students - Zia Chisti and Kelsey Wirth – over 25 years ago. Their moment of realisation came from the knowledge that minor relapses in tooth movement could be resolved with full-time vacuum-formed retainer wear. With the potential for 3D printing on an industrial level, a novel way to use cutting edge technology to straighten teeth was born.

2)    By September 2022 over 14 million patients had started Invisalign treatment worldwide. It is offered in over 100 countries including the North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and some Middle Eastern, African and Latin American countries.

3)    The manufacturing of Invisalign aligners is carried out in Juarez, Mexico and treatment plans are created in Costa Rica. Align Technology also operates separate subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Australia that sell Invisalign to their respective markets.

4)    Invisalign aligners are made from a unique, elastic, multilayer polyurethane plastic (polyurethane from methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and 1.6-hexanediol to be exact) known as SmartTrack™ which is specifically engineered to deliver a constant, uniform and low-intensity force on teeth. SmartTrack™ is free of bisphenol-A, latex, gluten and BPS. 

5)     Invisalign SmartForceÒ refers to the unique attachments and features (like power ridges, pressure areas and optimized attachments) designed into the aligners to deliver the exact forces required to achieve predictable tooth movements. They are placed automatically on the ClinCheck and their position cannot be adjusted, only removed.

6)     The new Invisalign Practice app is integrated with the Invisalign Doctor Site to help streamline workflow by putting many of the existing Invisalign treatment features like Invisalign Photo Uploader, Virtual Care, Virtual Appointment and Smileview Simulation into one convenient app.

7)     It’s now possible to modify and approve treatment plans within minutes using the 3D Controls in ClinCheck Pro 6.0 and pressing the “Live Update” button. Treatment approvals are available within minutes, not days, by avoiding time-consuming back-and-forth with the Align technicians.