LuxCreoThe company, which specializes in 3D printed dental appliances, announced that it has developed a solution, FDA Class II, 510(k), for orthodontists to create clear aligners on the same day. This eliminates the need for traditional thermoforming and model stages. The company claims that this method allows orthodontists, dentists and other dental professionals to provide aligners within two hours of an oral scanning.
LuxCreo claims that this process offers significant labor and capital expenditure savings when compared with in-house thermoforming.
Mike Yang, LuxCreo CEO said: “After 5 years of collaboration with orthodontists, dentists and dental labs, we are excited to introduce our integrated suite of direct aligner digital fabrication tools. LuxCreo Direct Print Aligners provide a higher level of accuracy than thermoformed alternatives, which may result in better patient fit. Furthermore, our patent-pending multi-thickness technology enables customised teeth movements tailored to each patient’s unique treatment needs.”
According to the company’s statement, despite the rapid growth of clear aligner treatment in the world, up to 10% of patients are cancelling their treatments because of long lead times for initial aligners of six weeks. According to LuxCreo, the LuxAlign platform addresses these issues, and enables patients to try on aligners two hours after intraoral scanning at a dentist’s office.
LuxCreo launches a series of products, including: iLux Pro Dental software; iLuxCure Pro direct aligner material (DCA); LuxScale.
The iLux Pro Dental is a high throughput, small footprint, heated, chairside DLP printer with 50µm pixel resolution, powered by LEAP technology. According to LuxCreo one iLux Pro can print 175 models horizontally, or up 64 direct aligners within an 8-hour shift.
LuxAlign’s design software generates automatically aligner retainer designs. It adds trimlines, fixes tooth gaps and allows for varying alignment thicknesses. This enhances both aligner efficacy as well as patient comfort.
The iLuxCure Pro cures 6-8 aligners per 30 minutes. It is programmable and has multi-wavelengths, multidirections, and high-irradiance.
LuxCreo’s Direct Clear Aligner Material (DCA) is a tough, flexible, and accurate clear aligner material with high transparency without manual polishing, enabled by LuxCreo’s Digital Polishing technology. DCA was FDA Class II 510(k) cleared to be used as an aligner.
Dentists can now order or modify remaining aligner treatment plans from LuxCreo’s smart factory after the patient has approved and received their initial aligners.
“The iLux Pro Dental and LuxAlign design software has been a game changer for my practice; I’ve eliminated the need to print models, thermoform them and cut the aligners. LuxAlign has saved my practice 60-75% in labour costs compared to the traditional workflow and has slashed waiting times for my patients,” said Dr. Mike Pham, CEO of Affordable Dental.
