alt.hn

3/19/2026 at 4:40:59 AM

How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers

 https://www.wired.com/story/how-invisalign-became-the-worlds-biggest-3d-printing-company/

by mikhael

3/21/2026 at 8:36:18 PM

1) Currently on invisign - mould 24 of 42

2) For 5k (Cdn) - I get 42 moulds, a method used to scan and submit my progress for each mould duration, feedback and advice from a dentist, a scan test to see who they fit

3) Considering the cost of braces and the flexibility these allow (as long as you are disciplined in wearing them) it's well worth it

4) My teeth were really misaligned. At 42 I just decided to do it so I could smile more in pics. Not confidence issue, just sometimes in life you have to do things for yourself

5) You can see the 3d printing lines and its pretty detailed given how lightweight and accurate the shape is for each tooth

6) There are little mounts they install on your teeth for the moulds to latch on to as well, so its not just a fit on the teeth but the mounts as well

7) Each individual mould has a unique number on the package in comes in as well as on the mould. Each package has my name, the dentist and the mould number out of 42.

8) I could see changes starting with mould 6

9) If look even close to mould 42, I will be extactic

10) it also comes with an attachment for your phone that alows you to submit self exams each mould. Its really cool. its very impressive

by LurkandComment

3/21/2026 at 9:11:37 PM

Just be prepared near the end for refinements. When I did mine, I had to do another 6 months of refinements near the end to help get the locking of my bite grip to be where it needs to be. I was otherwise expecting that day to be when I’d be done, and later learned refinements are a fairly common occurrence when going through Invisalign.

As the sibling comment, it’s definitely worth it. Best of luck!

by aewens

3/22/2026 at 12:40:07 AM

This isn’t the case with 3D printed bracket systems. Studies have shown that the 3D personalized bracket system from LightForce will cut down treatment time over 40%. The refinement phase is also spot on and finishes much faster, and recent studies have shown further improvements. Also, the more complex the case, the larger the delta on the performance. Not all orthos are practicing this way but this is where the future is going whether it is LightForce or another company. The physics just works out better than the best plastics.

Disclaimer: I’m a health nerd and was an employee a couple years ago.

by rancar2

3/22/2026 at 7:33:21 AM

LightForce still requires a lot of visits to the doctor. Nice source of revenue for orthos. Aligners may become more accessible to patients, because that tech is more scalable by design.

by ivan_gammel

3/22/2026 at 6:19:25 PM

Ivan worked at Align and was CTO of European DTC competitor. I agree with Ivan that both technologies have their sweet spot. I disagree with the scale piece and the frequency of visits as there are practices doing both those things differently using the placement and remote monitoring technology.

For younger patients that haven’t had braces before which is the majority of historical patient populations and future ones, 3D printed personalized braces systems are better as the tooth movement needed is more clinically substantial at tougher angles. Many younger patients forget and lose their plastic aligners.

That said: what is chosen should be what for the whole person at multiple levels.

by rancar2

3/22/2026 at 6:48:31 PM

This sounds like AI-written comment, at least in the first part. What I do not get is why are you dismissing the argument about number of visits. 3D printed braces are still braces. They require manual adjustment for each treatment stage. Aligners do not need that - they may need a check-up in the middle of the treatment, maybe one or two mid-course corrections, maybe an appointment for installation of attachments, but that's it. You change aligners at home without visiting doctor.

>Many younger patients forget and lose their plastic aligners.

They can get a new one easily by post.

by ivan_gammel

3/21/2026 at 8:51:42 PM

Best of luck! I completed mine 2 years ago and have to say it was 100% worth the patience.

by Oarch

3/21/2026 at 9:42:19 PM

My SO is now using it. I’m waiting for her impressions to decide if I want to do so.

The dentist told me I’d only need it for like 3-4 months, minor corrections. But it seems like such a hassle. Always having to remove it before eating anywhere, no coffee, and gotta make sure I’d always travel with the next set of aligners etc.

Glad it worked well for you though!

by Insanity

3/22/2026 at 6:35:42 AM

Because it’s annoying to remove and clean for eating each time, it will get to a point where coffee or the odd snack is not worth the hassle. Maybe once in the year process did I find it worth it to remove it to eat fourth time in a day. It’s a weird reorienting. Like jumping into a new energy level that is more taxing, but is in a minima such that you want to stay to 3 meals a day.

by meroes

3/21/2026 at 9:48:44 PM

I lost a few pounds doing it because snacking became so annoying. :)

by com2kid

3/21/2026 at 10:18:02 PM

I am nearing the end, depending on the refinements. The first two weeks I was regretting it, but adjusted quickly. Honestly for me the issue was more that I did not like the way my teeth feel with the trays out (and the rough field of the aligners on the teeth). The eating was not that big of a deal. I have a travel toothbrush and case I keep with me. It has been pretty easy.

Still looking forward to getting the stuff off my teeth.

I needed 15 trays so just 30 weeks. Not that bad.

by markphip

3/21/2026 at 11:20:47 PM

Just do what I did: ignore your orthodontist and wear them only at night, smashing them into your mouth like some kind of idiotic brute. 4 years later, great teeth!

by darkpicnic

3/21/2026 at 11:50:37 PM

I'll admit that I wore them less than indicated (but always at night) and doesn't seem to make much of a difference?

by Gooblebrai

3/22/2026 at 1:41:43 AM

You teeth are literally being pushed to a new position. So if you dont use the braces for the "minimum" duration, you teeth may not be in a place where they need to be for the second set of braces to start working. So your 2nd braces are going to be pushing more and that might cause damage to your teeth/gums. Think of it like trying to do splits. If you have never done them ever before and you try to do them on your first try, then you gonna break whatever you have down there. But if you keep at it then day by day you will notice progress. The braces are like that. Each one eases you into the next stage if that makes sense.

by Rohunyyy

3/21/2026 at 9:22:29 PM

I've had good smile all my life but now at 41 I've started to feel a tightness between my teeth.

Lo and behold I read that as we age the jaws shrink which makes the teeth crowd together.

I'm going for a free mouth scan in a couple weeks.

by nntwozz

3/21/2026 at 10:16:34 PM

Wouldn't be such a big deal if we didn't keep all our teeth, but we do now. The migration forward as we age, plus wisdom teeth are evolutionary holdovers.

Fun fact, I have one fully grown in wisdom tooth. The rest are still there, but never moved. My dentist is always after me to get all of them removed, telling me that they won't fill a cavity on the grown in one

by malfist

3/22/2026 at 12:16:19 AM

You should find a new Dentist if that's their response. There's no reason to take out a healthy tooth if it's not impacting your quality of life or there are other issues.

Sounds like your Dentist is chasing $ over sense. My better half is a DDS, and they see quite a few patients wherein others in the field put their opinions and revenue over their hippocratic oath.

by windexh8er

3/22/2026 at 12:56:31 PM

I'm 50 and still have all mine. One of them is at a 90 degree angle pointing forward as well.

I grew up in a time/place where you never went to the dentist or doctor unless if you were pretty much dying, but at least times are changing now.

by animal531

3/21/2026 at 11:03:46 PM

And conversely having all of your teeth, and straight ones at that, help prevent jaw wasting.

by ajcp

3/22/2026 at 2:47:59 AM

Do you know what type of plastic they use? I have a 3D printer and I wouldn't want to put 3D printed stuff on my mouth. It's way too easy to end up with microplastics

by gonzalohm

3/22/2026 at 6:17:50 AM

The article says the braces are 2 layers. The inner one is polyester and the outer one is polyurethane. They also don't currently 3d print the braces themselves but instead thermo form them on top of 3d printed molds.

by RealityVoid

3/22/2026 at 6:12:24 AM

I think you'd end up with more plastic from just breathing in air and eating seafood than Invisalign, but I haven't done a study on that.

by bottom999mottob

3/21/2026 at 11:25:54 PM

How long does the process last? Are the moulds monthly or something like that?

I haven't done any similar treatment and I'm considering it at 35. Worried about the length since I heard it takes far longer for adults.

by kace91

3/21/2026 at 11:40:01 PM

My understanding is they used to be fairly strict about using a set for 2 weeks before changing, but research has shown very little difference in outcomes down to 1 week.

There is some discomfort/soreness for the first few days after switching. My dentist's instructions were to wear each for at least a week and then switch to the next set whenever I wanted after that. Basically at whatever rate I was comfortable/could tolerate. I'm now at set 15 and have switched most of them after a week while a few I delayed a couple of days because I had something happening where I didn't want to worry about any discomfort.

by janzer

3/22/2026 at 8:20:04 AM

My wife started with wearing one mould for 7 days and went down to one mould for 4 days near the end of the treatment (but the orthodontist knew we wanted to move and may have accelerated the schedule). She started wearing them at ~36. She says they told her it may be up to 2 weeks per mould before she started the treatment but that wasn't the case for her.

by bialpio

3/22/2026 at 6:00:49 AM

I had really bad teeth as a kid, so had braces. Periodically I'd have to go in to get them tightened, and remember the worst whole head pain for a day. Just curious is switching Invisalign molds is a similar process?

by silisili

3/22/2026 at 11:48:44 AM

No it’s like a mild pressure on some teeth for maybe a day or two but then doesn’t really feel like much

by pipe2devnull

3/21/2026 at 11:49:54 PM

I went through these and am pretty happy with the results. Mostly to counter the crowding of the teeth that happens naturally as you age.

As you probably know you're going to have to wear retainers at night for the rest of your life if you want your teeth to stay where they landed.

by YZF

3/21/2026 at 7:23:46 PM

Tangential, but I have sleep apnea. Fortunately I have it mild enough to get away with a mouthpiece instead of a CPAP (which is good anyway because I also have bruxism).

The mouthpiece works great and I would recommend everyone get tested for sleep apnea if your insurance covers it, but I have to admit that paying for it bothered me. Even with insurance covering some of it, it cost me about $600.

I know that there's a deceptively high amount of engineering required for these kinds of things, but it was very hard to wrap my head around paying $600 for what amounted to a couple pieces of clear plastic. I actually got them to send me the STL of the scan of my teeth, and some back of napkin math indicated that it would have cost me about fifteen cents of resin to print it out myself. Instead I'm paying about 4000x that price.

Obviously this is not apples to apples, I'm sure they're using different and/or better resin that what I have, and as I said there's probably engineering and fine-tuning for this, but even still it was not fun to pay for.

All the same, I sleep like 10x better, so I suppose that considering that $600 is a cheap price to pay.

by tombert

3/21/2026 at 8:10:36 PM

I think your comment would have been more insightful if you had at least pretended to try to account for labor before saying "They charged me 4000x the cost of goods!".

To be clear I'm not even asking for you to account for the cost of your printer, the 3d scanner, and software licenses in your math. Let's assume that all those are free. How many hours of specialized human time was spent on consultations, scans, design, reviews, to produce working guards for you?

The next question is then, of course, how much do they charge for subsequent guards now that the scan has been done and validated? Is it still 4000x the cost of raw resin?

by tredre3

3/21/2026 at 8:21:38 PM

I did qualify multiple times that there are costs associated with engineering, So I feel that it it's implied that the 4000x figure is a naive one.

I'm sure labor is involved, and maybe it's a lot, but it still seems like an awful lot of money for a piece of plastic.

by tombert

3/21/2026 at 9:12:34 PM

Even if the actual specialist labor had been minimal, there's also the amount of time and effort it takes to accumulate enough knowledge to become a specialist. It's like the joke about spending $200 for a repair guy to come kick your printer in just the right spot to fix a print jam--you pay him $50 for kicking it, and $150 for knowing where to kick it :)

by cryzinger

3/21/2026 at 9:07:40 PM

Yes, they will charge a similar amount for producing another guard from an existing scan - I’ve had that done. It was also completely unnecessary in my case, it’s clearly an easy money grab for some offices.

by ricardobeat

3/21/2026 at 8:25:16 PM

With sleep apnea, I highly recommend you look into myofunctional therapy, which is like airway physical therapy. (full disclosure, my mom is a myofunctional therapist). It worked for several friends; They still use their cpap but they get much better sleep after committing to a routine. Not advertising but spreading the word, find someone local!

by y-curious

3/21/2026 at 8:42:03 PM

I hadn't heard of this. I'll give it a look and see if I my insurance covers it...thanks!

by tombert

3/22/2026 at 12:55:52 AM

If it doesn’t, you can try and find some free resources online. If you’re in NYC, my mom’s business is HappyMyo and you can tell her her son sent you from HN. Good luck and I hope it helps you, it sounded really hippie and lame when I heard the name but I’m a believer now.

by y-curious

3/22/2026 at 1:00:16 AM

I do live in NYC and I actually did see that practice when I was searching. I might check it out though apparently my insurance will not cover it. I'll dig a bit further.

by tombert

3/22/2026 at 4:20:39 AM

I have a MAD I got online as well and the experience is a bit subpar, lots of parts broke (the bands) and I can’t easily get replacements parts. My MAD also broke, and I can’t replace it easily (they sent me a new one but it doesn’t fit). They also are not testing me to see if there’s any difference (I think it works because I wake up less, and definitely wake up less to pee). Figuring out what band to use is also a esoteric process. It’s amazing that this exists besides a CPAP but we are really beta testers at this point. Oh and I learned later that they don’t replace your retainers

by baby

3/21/2026 at 8:09:16 PM

>Even with insurance covering some of it, it cost me about $600.

Well that's pretty close to how much the entire CPAP system would cost depending on the sale.

by operatingthetan

3/21/2026 at 8:22:08 PM

The CPAP actually would have cost me less with insurance! At the time it would have cost me about $400.

by tombert

3/21/2026 at 11:10:29 PM

fwiw, if your sleep apnea is when you're on your back, consider somnopose/torena and put your phone is a running vest like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D24X29WQ

life changing for me

by emeril

3/21/2026 at 7:50:30 PM

I’ve tried custom molded mouthpieces for grinding but couldn’t adjust to sleep with them. I notice them and feel the discomfort of it not feeling natural despite it being a pricey professionally manufactured piece. It just feels too artificial. I also wonder about the long term effects of polymers in the mouth for long periods of time daily.

by SilverElfin

3/21/2026 at 7:59:09 PM

It took me a couple weeks to get used to it, but get used to it I did. I would still prefer a universe where I didn't have to wear it, but at this point it doesn't bother me too much.

I agree the plastics might be bad for me, but I justify it because I suspect that just continuing with the apnea is almost certainly worse for me, considering how many diseases appear to be caused by it.

by tombert

3/22/2026 at 5:42:43 AM

Every mouthpiece I got tasted awful, made me drool all night, and within days my apparently mega jaw would just grind right through them

by wpm

3/21/2026 at 7:28:40 PM

> I know that there's a deceptively high amount of engineering required for these kinds of things

I think there's a deceptively low amount of engineering required for most medical and medical-adjacent tech. The high costs are rooted in pervasive industry-wide centuries-long FUD campaigns.

by lxe

3/21/2026 at 8:19:19 PM

> centuries-long FUD campaigns

That dastardly Ben Franklin with his bifocals..

by gunapologist99

3/21/2026 at 7:27:51 PM

> All the same, I sleep like 10x better, so I suppose that considering that $600 is a cheap price to pay.

First time?

Price is not determined by cost to produce.

It’s determined by the price a customer is willing to pay.

by chrony3705

3/21/2026 at 7:44:00 PM

Every company operating on that basis is a busniess waiting to be disrupted by a cost-plus competitor.

by hobofan

3/21/2026 at 7:49:16 PM

The company competing on cost plus is wasting resources by solving problems that arent very profitable to solve

by bad_haircut72

3/21/2026 at 7:52:49 PM

Every business still operating on that basis has a moat somewhere else.

by regularfry

3/21/2026 at 8:22:48 PM

Yes this. Either have a moat or be a commodity. Commodities are cost plus

by mayukh

3/21/2026 at 8:51:41 PM

In a market with perfect price discovery, sure. However, over the years I have learned that even the best products for the job can (and will) lose without the right marketing, sales, distribution, etc.

Sometimes the entrenched default that collects an inertial premium doesn't get disrupted...

But, yes, anyone without a moat who operates with a presumption of retention runs the risk of being knocked off of their perch; their fate left to others.

by chaboud

3/21/2026 at 8:07:38 PM

As is every individual earning more than median income.

by lotsofpulp

3/21/2026 at 7:42:34 PM

An important corollary to this rule is that that customer need not be you.

by shiandow

3/21/2026 at 8:02:34 PM

And the material cost also isn't the main thing you're paying for, it's time and expertise involved in scanning and designing it.

by moffkalast

3/21/2026 at 7:37:43 PM

I suspect the introduction of the infinite-money pits of insurance doesn't help either.

Since I do have the 3D scan of my teeth, I've debated designing my own, but I'm not sure which resins to buy that I could safely put in my mouth every night.

by tombert

3/21/2026 at 8:15:05 PM

Even if you find a safe resin.

Might there be microscopic layer lines? Or other unknowns you're not familiar with? Making 3d prints that can be cleaned is non-trivial, maybe there is a surface finish involved, etc.

Also how do you know your design is correct? Won't cause your teeth to move? A 3d scan doesn't mean you know what a mouth guard should look like.

All of a sudden, having a product that's made with a vetted process is pretty attractive -- and 600 USD seems like a bargain.

What's the cost of having your teeth fixed, if they accidentally move? (Not to mention the discomfort, which can be considerable)

by jopsen

3/21/2026 at 8:29:17 PM

I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to convince me of. I did pay the $600, I even said that it's probably a cheap price to pay to treat the apnea.

That doesn't really change the fact that it feels kind of viscerally wrong to pay $600 to pay for two glorified pieces of plastic, and a part of me still does feel I could clone it competently. I haven't bothered for the aforementioned safe resin, and also because I already have it and I have enough money to just eat the cost and complain about it.

by tombert

3/21/2026 at 7:48:33 PM

[dead]

by s5300

3/21/2026 at 5:28:03 PM

So shouldn't this really be something that could be opened sourced. I think I've seen a few write ups of people that did their own, but seems like a highly functional implementation could be democratized.

by hattmall

3/21/2026 at 6:06:24 PM

It is definitely not that simple for a number of reasons. Yes, aligners and retainers in theory may be printed on some commercially available hardware. At your own risk, because you will be printing a medical device and you will need:

1. A treatment plan: simulated movement of teeth at every step, taking into account all forces. That’s specialized software or external lab service.

2. Precision. You put too much pressure at the wrong angle and you will need a surgery to fix the damage, because the tooth root moved in wrong direction.

3. Plastic. You cannot use ordinary 3D printer ink. You need a plastic that can survive the chemical environment in your mouth, maintain the pressure, and you probably want it to look good (no discoloration etc).

4. Finish: Align Tech, Straumann etc do not stop after 3D printing, there are few other steps involved to make sure there’s no sharp edges etc.

5. Maybe you will need attachments (to focus pressure in the right direction on certain teeth) or wires.

Align Tech is Apple of clear aligners, but now competition exists, producing aligners at scale is commercially more efficient, considering all the risks and required qualifications, and of course the best materials for aligners are patented and not sold OTC to everyone.

Disclosure: I worked at Align 10 years ago and later was CTO of European DTC competitor.

by ivan_gammel

3/21/2026 at 7:07:21 PM

How many of these risks and problems are exaggerated in scope and potential due to both a desire for a regulatory moat and a general fear of litigation in the medical space?

That is to say, how good is “good enough” when done at small-scale in developing nations or medically underserved communities?

by natpalmer1776

3/21/2026 at 7:56:12 PM

1. There‘s always a reason or two for the treatment. The problems with bite may affect your health in various ways. There’s aesthetic component in it, sometimes even cultural preferences for how your teeth should look like. But let’s say patient cannot afford to care about final position when signing up for the treatment. They just trust the doctor saying they need it. Failure mode: patient is unhappy with outcome and will ruin your business from marketing perspective.

2. Let‘s say the practice does it in old way, with impressions - no intraoral scanner. The scanner of impressions still needed, but it can be cheaper. Someone needs to build it and achieve required accuracy (let’s say, 50 μm). Who? Why? Failure mode: bad scan leads to aligners not fitting your teeth from day 1. Oops.

3. Let‘s say someone builds a good OSS alternative to OrthoCAD (Who? Why?), so that orthodontist on site could build a treatment plan and export it into series of 3D models for printers. Failure mode: good treatment plans are rarely possible or output is garbage (aligners do not fit, cause pain etc)

4. Maybe some company develops good plastic or patent expires, so that it is possible to produce it in India, China or other inexpensive location with strong industrial base. That would be cool, otherwise: non-compliant plastic breaks in patient’s mouth, decomposes with patient ingesting some toxic chemicals or is simply not strong enough to move teeth in desired position, so you have problem with 2nd aligner.

5. Maybe you get to this point, but you still need a printer that can maintain the same precision in printing. And you need a good cutting and finishing process. Someone needs to build such device. Failure modes are similar to the mentioned above.

6. The ortho supervision sounds easy, but how many patients in developing countries do even have a possibility to see orthodontist? They are definitely not in position to treat themselves.

So, in this process, what is good enough exactly? Who and why would drive the costs down while building an on-site solution?

by ivan_gammel

3/21/2026 at 7:25:15 PM

These kinds of things can slowly move your bone structure over time. After all, that is their entire point. You don't want to accidentally mess up your teeth and jaw even more.

by jmalicki

3/21/2026 at 9:03:07 PM

This would be what I'd worry about. How many of us do any metrology on our printed artefacts? It's really easy to get a subtly warped print and without having some sort of calibration of the process I wouldn't want to make any accuracy claims whatsoever.

by regularfry

3/21/2026 at 7:22:47 PM

Smile Direct Club and co have shown its founded 100% in real risk of harm.

They were a company theoretically doing the same thing with still more resources than an average individual has, and ruined people's bites and teeth.

I don't think there's a good enough here

by BoorishBears

3/21/2026 at 10:40:44 PM

Yes just the safe to be in the mouth and for it to handle significant pressure from teeth biting changes this from simple 3D filliment to something much more involved during the design and regulatory processes.

by Projectiboga

3/21/2026 at 6:16:14 PM

Per point #3, aren't the liners thermo formed around at 3d printed model of your teeth?

by nullable_bool

3/21/2026 at 6:26:18 PM

IIRC, yes. It’s been some time ago, I don’t know how manufacturing looks now. It’s different process compared to 3D printing at home. It doesn’t mean it should be different, it just has to maintain certain properties. I’m not chemical or bioengineer to go into detail of it :)

by ivan_gammel

3/21/2026 at 5:57:55 PM

I did Invisalign a few years ago. Manufacturing the retainers is surely only a small part of the puzzle.

They used a specialized sort of 3D camera on a stick to get an incredibly accurate model of my mouth, any open source solution would need an equivalent. And you’d also need open source code from somewhere to work out which teeth need to move where and at what stage in the treatment.

by afavour

3/21/2026 at 6:42:28 PM

They also use this camera system when creating implants. After the implant post was installed, they scan your mouth to determine the optimum shape for your crown (that goes on the post).

by greedo

3/21/2026 at 10:09:34 PM

Even with just regular crowns. I've had a few root canals as I've gotten older. They scanned the old tooth, brought into 3d modelling software, modified it for purpose, checked it's resulting fit against neighboring teeth, and then sent it to a mill right in the office and had it glued into my head in less than a hour.

My doctor knows I'm into this so he always does it right next to me and turns the PC monitor so I can watch the entire process. The software is so simple almost anyone could use it. Generating a medically correct result is obviously where all the skill lies.

by themafia

3/21/2026 at 6:19:04 PM

That’s pretty wild. I got a mould taken with some sort of a putty .

by maccard

3/21/2026 at 6:23:07 PM

I wear a night guard and have had them made both ways.

The 3D camera was really neat. A little faster, and I didn’t once dry heave.

I could watch the software and a 3D model slowly form of my mouth. Looked surprisingly user friendly. Missed areas were highlighted, for example.

by doubled112

3/21/2026 at 7:09:44 PM

> A little faster, and I didn’t once dry heave.

Dry heaving would have been great. I would regularly vomit from impressions. My orthodontist would just prepare two sets if impression trays, cause the first one was going to go in the medical waste bin.

Impressions for invisilign (when I did it, about a million years ago) weren't so bad though. Unfortunately invisilign resulted in an open bite for my molars, which I really should go back to an orthodontist to address, but I'd rather not.

by toast0

3/21/2026 at 6:38:51 PM

>They used a specialized sort of 3D camera on a stick to get an incredibly accurate model of my mouth

AFAIK Align's 3D scanning system is more or less branched from the same Israeli tech that went into the Xbox 360 kinect camera and the iPhone face-ID.

by joe_mamba

3/21/2026 at 8:01:31 PM

While both were originally companies based in Israel, the technology behind the Kinect is different.

iTero scanners (owned by Align Technology) use parallel confocal imaging via red light lasers. Their newer models also use Multi-Direct Capture techniques.

Kinect used a Light Coding technique, an infrared projector and camera. It was developed by a company called PrimeSense, which was later purchased by Apple.

by avensec

3/21/2026 at 9:38:17 PM

>"The iTero intraoral scanner was originally developed by Cadent, Ltd., a company based in Israel."

There's something with Israel and 3D scanning tech. But I don't think I would like the answer.

by joe_mamba

3/21/2026 at 6:15:10 PM

Orthodontics is simply “making a retainer” the same way orthopedics is simply “putting screws in a leg”.

The difficult part is not the manufacturing, but knowing how to do it properly so you don’t harm the patient.

by kube-system

3/21/2026 at 9:15:58 PM

Sure, but it's a more or less a formulaic process. There's not on the fly decision making or emergency responses like in orthopaedic surgery or any other surgical design. You make a mold or scan of teeth. Calculate the adjustments, make the retainer, repeat. With a more widely available tooling the process could be even more monitored. i.e. Bi-weekly instead of monthly molds for faster and more precise results.

by hattmall

3/21/2026 at 7:40:45 PM

As the joke goes, $10 to tighten the bolt, $90 to know which bolt to tighten.

by roughly

3/21/2026 at 6:35:57 PM

>The difficult part is not the manufacturing, but knowing how to do it properly so you don’t harm the patient.

And yet I read plenty of horror stories of bad orthodontic results. Ask me how I know.

Went to 3 different orthodontist to fix what a bad orthodontist did to me when I was a kid, and each gave me a completely different treatment plan. I feel like being an orthodontist is just eyeballing and patching your way as you go to an acceptable resolution.

by joe_mamba

3/21/2026 at 7:26:48 PM

Given that, shouldn't you be even more concerned about people YOLOing it, if even highly trained orthodontists are regularly screwing this up?

by jmalicki

3/22/2026 at 3:04:13 PM

Absolutely. I'm sure some high-IQ high-functioning autists like John Carmack or Palmer Luckey could fix their teeth at home with some alligners they 3d printed in their garage better than a sloppy orthodontist, but that obviously doesn't scale to gen-pop.

by joe_mamba

3/22/2026 at 6:41:02 PM

It's not even just 3d printing skill, but understanding the physiology of how the bone and teeth will restructure themselves over time to know the right amount of pressure to apply to encourage that remodeling, without so much pressure to cause damage - there is a huge amount of scientific research there! (That I'm sure some orthodontists probably pay more detailed attention to than others).

I don't doubt a high-IQ high functioning autist could self-teach this, but there's a ton of background there.

by jmalicki

3/21/2026 at 5:43:06 PM

Certainly it's not impossible to DIY, but it's more difficult than just popping some aligners on your 3d printer.

Manufacturing them requires a resin printer and a vacuforming setup, but that's still the easy part. It's a whole system with a dental 3D scanner, software for rearranging your mouth, and attachment points that have to be epoxied onto (and later removed from) your teeth by a dentist.

by Legend2440

3/21/2026 at 5:55:15 PM

Yeah it's also not unreasonably expensive. At least when I had them it was only a few thousand pounds. I think they do offers regularly.

by IshKebab

3/21/2026 at 5:51:18 PM

They have to have at least 2 different materials as well. The temporary trays were much softer and I had almost ground through them in my sleep by the time I had to switch to the next one but the final set is much more robust.

by lovich

3/21/2026 at 6:28:08 PM

A point I didn’t see sibling comments make is that the dentist often has to file between teeth for them to sit and align correctly. They did so several times in my case. I would not want to do that to myself!

by plomme

3/21/2026 at 6:56:35 PM

It’s been tried, with some success. Pretty sure I’ve seen a post here on HN from someone that DIy’d it end to end.

But it’s also something that’s not responsible to shortcut. Shifting teeth around too fast can result in permanent root damage and even loss of teeth. There was a whole cottage industry in the US for a while focused on under cutting Invisalign with a reverse-engineered product, but they often moved on accelerated treatment timelines that caused a not-insignificant amount of harm to patients, and cut corners on intake (DIY at home mold kits) that also contributed to problems. Pretty sure all of the companies doing this are basically dead now.

by sithadmin

3/21/2026 at 8:05:16 PM

Also no one has mentioned many mouths needed some teeth shaving to re-align. You are NOT doing that at home.

Also who’s attaching the attachments (I had 13 at first) to the teeth to help the aligners grab hold?

by meroes

3/21/2026 at 6:08:23 PM

Need expensive printers and you need CAD software that can correctly move the teeth. Also not all it can be done by software, sometimes you need to blank out certain teeth that dentist will make the call.

by adrr

3/22/2026 at 2:39:21 AM

Nobody tells you how much it hurts, but it’s worth it (just in the increase in dental hygiene alone in my case).

For some reason now it’s assumed these were some kind of injection molding, but it makes perfect sense that it’s 3-D printed.

by smithcoin

3/22/2026 at 4:25:26 AM

Didnt hurt much for me

by baby

3/21/2026 at 8:10:06 PM

I don’t like this interviewer’s tone, at all. It was like… confrontational but in a teenage way.

by itsdesmond

3/21/2026 at 11:28:35 PM

He does have a German wikipedia page

by smallnix

3/22/2026 at 4:46:28 AM

My 2 kids had those and it is amazing compared to traditional way, pulling healthy teeth, wearing braces which are brutal to your teeth.

It should be illegal to pull kids teeth when this tech exists. Dentists were angry about this but it is superior in every way. I think costs will come down, but they are already cheaper then alternatives.

I am happy my wife researched and discovered Invisalign.

One required much more alignment, I don't remember but it was 20+ weeks, other was done in 16 weeks. Now they have retainers and that is it.

by desireco42

3/21/2026 at 8:12:07 PM

There’s a dental procedure in Latin America that is cheaper but only a few places in the US do it.

by b3ing

3/22/2026 at 11:46:15 AM

It’s called - C5 Hidden Orthodontics, not sure why I was downvoted

by b3ing

3/21/2026 at 6:56:17 PM

Most teeth align themselves as kids age. This is almost never necessary.

by infinitewars

3/21/2026 at 7:19:52 PM

Yes, the 12 billion dollar company must be doing something that no one needs.

by leopld

3/21/2026 at 8:26:01 PM

Have you heard of the Big 4 consultancies?

by y-curious

3/21/2026 at 8:31:56 PM

If you look at places in the world where there are no dentists... their teeth are excellent.

Anecdotally, our three boys all were told they MUST have braces (each for different reasons). We did this for exactly none of them. And their teeth came out perfect by adulthood.

by infinitewars

3/21/2026 at 8:51:57 PM

My childhood teeth were perfect until I became a young adult and my wisdom teeth came in. My Ortho assured me that I had space and I didn't need them removed. I never had my wisdom teeth taken out, but they did shift all my naturally straight teeth and some became crooked. I'm looking into Invisalign to correct this because it does cause self confidence issues and I want to have my toothy smile back.

by missedthecue

3/21/2026 at 11:19:26 PM

I suggest asking your (ortho)dentist if you'll need braces anyway to correct your bite.

by rkomorn

3/22/2026 at 2:27:44 AM

I think your definition of excellent and perfect teeth is in reality just "perfectly adequate" for their job of eating. If you don't care about the optics of your smile then sure, your body is going to find a way to place your teeth and jaw so you can still eat...

by bryceacc

3/22/2026 at 4:30:33 AM

Well there wouldn’t be much demand for dentists in places people have perfect teeth would there

by jazzyjackson

3/21/2026 at 11:15:44 PM

> If you look at places in the world where there are no dentists... their teeth are excellent.

What the fuck are you on.

> Anecdotally, our three boys all were told they MUST have braces (each for different reasons). We did this for exactly none of them. And their teeth came out perfect by adulthood.

Give me your address so I can take my bum parents, put you together, and slap your bitch ass with my crooked teeth.

by wiseowise

3/21/2026 at 7:02:19 PM

There are folks working on solutions for when teeth do not align themselves.

by imperialdrive

3/21/2026 at 9:43:42 PM

"almost never" for 8 billion people is "hundreds of millions of people need this".

E.g. I do

by troupo

3/21/2026 at 8:14:19 PM

Until wisdom teeth come in later on and cause crowding or visual issues

by b3ing

3/21/2026 at 7:11:10 PM

Depends on diet.

If you keep them on soft food young, the jaw muscles don't get stimulated enough to grow so that the teeth that are coming out sit properly. Misalignment and opportunity for decay ensues.

If you give them decently hard food early on in life you solve most problems.

After that it can still happen but there's less chance.

by porridgeraisin

3/21/2026 at 7:45:55 PM

Also, breastfeeding and not weaning them off on to "baby foods" too soon is better in the same ways you describe.

by jonah

3/21/2026 at 7:28:06 PM

How early on in life?

by CaliforniaKarl

3/21/2026 at 10:38:28 PM

When they grow molars to chew with. Give them whole carrots to snack on.

by orthoxerox

3/22/2026 at 4:33:36 AM

To expand and agree: turnips, beets, hard whole grains, if their baby teeth aren't visibly worn by the time they fall out, it wasn't hard enough.

Jaw and face bone grows by stimulation. It's not just a dental thing - it's sleep apnea, sinus infections, facial structure, voice timbre, and attractiveness.

If it's enough, they won't even need their wisdom teeth pulled - having your wisdom teeth pulled is substantially a standard american diet issue, not a human genetic issue.

by jaggederest

3/22/2026 at 5:50:17 AM

Thanks, and 100% agree. We have never had to pull a wisdom tooth either and carrots were always the go-to roadtrip snack growing up.

by infinitewars

3/22/2026 at 5:53:02 AM

It's funny because I mildly disagree with your core premise (orthodontics are unnecessary), they should just be necessary as a disability accommodation, essentially. If we had 10-30% of the population in wheelchairs because we didn't let kids walk I would find the wheelchair industry odious as well.

by jaggederest

3/22/2026 at 3:37:13 PM

Right, most of the orthodontics websites say 70% of people need them. I understand wanting to justify a total market size but if people actually believe that, it's getting out of hand.

by infinitewars

3/22/2026 at 8:29:32 AM

I've had carrots (and fruit and hard snscks) since I don't remember when.

My teeth have been crooked since forever. So?

by troupo

3/21/2026 at 7:27:35 PM

Ok, sure, it's usually cosmetic. So what?

by Legend2440