LightForce Orthodontics has introduced a 'first-of-its-kind' 3D printed metal bracket.
The company suggests the new product marks a 'significant expansion of access' to individualised fixed treatment and establishes generative braces as a 'new category of care.'
Generative braces, per LightForce, see every appliance generated from the individual treatment plan, delivering a product that is manufactured for a specific patient and tooth.
According to LightForce, though orthodontic treatment has evolved from standardised stock brackets requiring manual adjustments and longer treatment times to the clear aligner products that introduced digital planning, limitations in clinical scope remain. With its generative braces approach, LightForce claims its ceramic bracket system demonstrated up to 60% fewer appointments and 43% shorter treatment times over conventional braces.
However, since 65% of patients worldwide prefer metal braces over ceramic, LightForce has sought to evolve its product. LightBracket Metal is created using a proprietary 3D metal printing process. Each bracket is generated from the orthodontist’s digital treatment plan and individualised across six dimensions: bracket base, slot height, slot prescription, bracket position, tie wings, and hooks. The base conforms to the morphology of the individual tooth.
LightForce is making three slot sizes available (.018”, .020”, .022”) with bidimensional combinations, while a 'breakthrough patient-specific tie-wing and hook' is said to deliver improved comfort and reduced debond rates.
“For more than a century, orthodontics relied on a stock bracket for patients who were never stock. LightBracket Metal changes the order of things. We’re giving doctors the most exact instrument they've ever had for the work they were born to do," said Alfred Griffin, founder and CEO of LightForce Orthodontics.
LightBracket Metal is currently rolling out to orthodontic practices.
“In my practice, I care deeply about providing individualised care for my patients. With LightBracket Metal, I am now able to provide that level of care with a patient-specific metal bracket system that is generated from my digital treatment plan,” said Dr. Jacquee Schieck at Schieck Orthodontics.
