LightForce Orthodontics has launched a patient-specific 3D-printed metal bracket designed to expand access to its generative braces system. The new product, called LightBracket Metal, is aimed at orthodontic practices wanting customized treatment options for patients who choose metal braces.
Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, LightForce said the new bracket is the first patient-specific additively manufactured metal bracket of its kind. The product builds on the company’s earlier ceramic system and extends its generative braces approach to a larger share of the orthodontics market.
According to the company, generative braces differ from traditional orthodontic systems because each appliance is created directly from a patient’s treatment plan. Instead of using standardized brackets, every bracket is designed and manufactured for an individual patient and a specific tooth.
“For more than a century, orthodontics relied on a stock bracket for patients who were never stock,” said Alfred Griffin, founder and CEO of LightForce Orthodontics. “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.”
The brackets are produced using a proprietary metal additive manufacturing process. Each bracket can be customized across multiple parameters, including bracket base geometry, slot height, slot prescription, bracket position, tie wings and hooks. The company said the bracket base is designed to conform to the morphology of each individual tooth.
LightForce stated that the lower-profile design and patient-specific tie-wing and hook features are intended to improve comfort and reduce debond rates. The system also includes algorithmically generated indirect bonding trays designed to support delegated clinical workflows.
The company said its earlier ceramic bracket system demonstrated up to 60% fewer appointments and 43% shorter treatment times compared with conventional braces. With LightBracket Metal, LightForce aims to bring those benefits to a wider portion of the orthodontics market, particularly the estimated 65% of patients worldwide who still choose metal braces.
“In my practice, I care deeply about providing individualized care for my patients,” said Dr Jacquee Schieck of Schieck Orthodontics. “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.”
James Lawton, president of LightForce Orthodontics, added: “For decades, every patient got the same bracket. That ends now. We are accelerating toward a future where the very idea of a universal, one-size-fits-all bracket is unthinkable.”
Source: Metal Additive Manufacturing
