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I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

amosdudley.com

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Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#31

Post by rl3 »

Not to be a downer, but was any thought given to the safety of the plastic(s) used?

This is something that's in your mouth a lot and constantly exposed to saliva.

The Dimension 1200es mentioned doesn't appear to be specific to medical applications.[0] The product page lists the only compatible thermoplastic being ABSplus-P430. The MSDS for that basically says the stuff is dangerous in molten form, and beyond that there's very little data.[1] The same company makes "Dental and Bio-Compatible" materials for use with their other products, and these appear to have considerably more safety data.[2]

>The aligner steps have been printed, in addition to a “riser” that I added in order to make sure the vacuum forming plastic (sourced from ebay) ...

As another commenter pointed out, the vacuum forming plastic is probably the primary concern because the 3D printer was just used to create the molds. The specific type of vacuum plastic isn't mentioned.

Regardless, very neat project.

[0] http://www.stratasys.com/3d-printers/design-series/dimension...

[1] http://www.stratasys.com/~/media/Main/Files/SDS/P430_ABS_M30...

[2] http://www.stratasys.com/materials/material-safety-data-shee...

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#32

Post by sandGorgon »

dezork wrote: post #19
mentos wrote: post #14

Are you considering starting a business out of this?

Definitely not, because of liability, and the fact that I have no interest in other people's teeth. I'm happy to leave it as a piece on my portfolio :)

But it would be great to build open source software that does this at a pushbutton.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#33

Post by hamburglar »

Having recently done invisalign, I think this is brilliant, but I would have had a really hard time sticking with it through the pain. I would worry too much that I was doing damage. My case was quite a bit more severe, however, so maybe it's less of a big deal if the movements are minor.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#34

Post by [deleted] »

rl3 wrote: post #31

Not to be a downer, but was any thought given to the safety of the plastic(s) used? This is something that's in your mouth a lot and constantly exposed to saliva. The Dimension 1200es mentioned doesn't appear to be specific to medical applications.[0] The product page lists the only compatible thermoplastic being ABSplus-P430 . The MSDS for that basically says the stuff is dangerous in molten form, and beyond that th…

[deleted]

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#36

Post by marincounty »

rev_bird wrote: post #25
percept wrote: post #2

Now that is awesome--those things aren't cheap. I'm going to send this to my dentist (who's cool enough to appreciate it).

It has not once in my life occurred to me to email my dentist.

I wonder why we avoid dentists? I know we all have the pain stories, but I think there's something else? As I gotten older, I just like to pretend they, along with MD's don't actually exist. What's ironic is I never met a dentist with the ego that seems to come with medical doctors. I've never met a dentist who was not a friendly person. I do feel bad when I can't respond to their questions with a mouth filled with cotton, and instruments.

As to the DIY orthodontic device, this is what I've been waiting for. The day I need a 3D printer haven't quite come, but it's getting close.

I an still awaiting the day I go to the pirate bay, and under Physibles dowload a stl file.

Here's a funny story about dentistry.

I was a thumb sucker. I guess I was nervous? I don't know? I just know I couldn't stop sucking my thumb. It was a horrid habit, and even as a kid I knew it, but just couldn't kick it. I had one baby sitter(the Plumber next door) get so tired of looking at me suck my thumb, while he was watching The Rockford Files; he threatened to cut it off. Well, I inched towards to door quietly, and when I got my hands on the knob, I ran into Donna Oties house, and wouldn't leave her bed. I was 2, or 3? Never forgot that baby sitter. Looking back he was embarrassed, but I literally thought he was going to cut it off. Never quite trusted men since that incident. Even now I find myself trusting women, over men. I think that incident played with my psyche?

O.k. jump to first grade. I'm still sucking my thumb in private. I'm trying to hide it from my parents, but they would catch me. My mom took me to this dentist. His solution was to put two bright stainless bands on my two front incisors. The bands had pin sharp pieces of metal jutting towards my tongue. The theory went--when I put my thumb in my mouth--the needles would prick my thumb making it impossible to suck.

Well, the questions at school never ceased. When one kid found out through my little sister, the bands had tacks on the inside; the jokes were non-stop. I was a strong kid, so the jokes weren't too hurtful, but they still stung. One kid pushed me too far, and I hung him by his feet from the monkey bars. He never talked to me again.

I still had these bands on my teeth in third grade, but I had grinded down the sharp points with my dad's Sears file. I could still suck my thumb, but I knew I needed to stop.

I talked my parents into taking the bands off. I can still see my mother, "But _____, you are going to be buck toothed!" My father was on my side, and we got them off. Actually, my father bent the pins up a bit so I would be more comfortable eating. He did this early on. I think he knew the anti-thumb sucking pins were wrong, but you didn't want to upset mom back then?

I finally got the pins off in fourth grade. It felt good!

I noticed one lingering side effect of the device; I couldn't smile naturally. Yes, if something was really amusing I would smile, but my hand instinctively went over my mouth. To this day, I can't smile. I can try to smile, but it just comes out looking fake. I'm middle aged now, and I have maybe 10 pictures of myself. I got through high school without my picture being taken. I got through middle shool without my picture taken. My college girlfriend had a picture of me, but she literally had come to tears in order for that Polaroid shot. The DMV, and Costco has my picture--that's it. All these years, I managed to duck, or avoid the camera. Crazy huh?

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#37

Post by 49531 »

marincounty wrote: post #36
rev_bird wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has not once in my life occurred to me to email my dentist.

I wonder why we avoid dentists? I know we all have the pain stories, but I think there's something else? As I gotten older, I just like to pretend they, along with MD's don't actually exist. What's ironic is I never met a dentist with the ego that seems to come with medical doctors. I've never met a dentist who was not a friendly person. I do feel bad when I can't respond to their questions with a mouth filled with c…

I used to wonder why people avoided dentists, but recently I cracked a molar and had to go to see a dentist.

I was recommended a dentist in town, I showed up to a nice office full of nice people, they looked at my tooth and said they might be able to save it. So far, it was a pretty good experience.

Then it got weird. They took me to a room with a business person who would discuss my "payment options and treatment plan". I got this weird pushy salesman vibe, where they said it would be between ~$900 - ~$1,700 to salvage the tooth. I asked if we could just do an extraction but they only responded with "Oh you don't want to do that!" (playfully) but legitimately not saying it was an option.

So being uninformed and kind of surprised I just went along with it. She had me sign some paper saying I accepted the treatment plan (another red flag) and said she would "waive" my fees for that day (since you know, I'll be back tomorrow with 10x the fees).

Then, the next day I show up for my procedure, and the tooth is cracked too far down for them to salvage it, so the dentist decides he is going to do an extraction.

Ended up with just a $200 bill, and boy was a excited.

They of course tried to set up some kind of maintenance plan where I come in every quarter for checkups, but I declined.

Overall it just feels weird to have such a sales focus feel with something more medical related, and I didn't appreciate being steered away from all of my options, they could have just set me up with an extraction from the beginning. It's my mouth, why can't I decide if I'd save $2,000 to lose a molar.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#39

Post by pkaye »

49531 wrote: post #37
marincounty wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why we avoid dentists? I know we all have the pain stories, but I think there's something else? As I gotten older, I just like to pretend they, along with MD's don't actually exist. What's ironic is I never met a dentist with the ego that seems to come with medical doctors. I've never met a dentist who was not a friendly person. I do feel bad when I can't respond to their questions with a mouth filled with c…

I used to wonder why people avoided dentists, but recently I cracked a molar and had to go to see a dentist. I was recommended a dentist in town, I showed up to a nice office full of nice people, they looked at my tooth and said they might be able to save it. So far, it was a pretty good experience. Then it got weird. They took me to a room with a business person who would discuss my "payment options and treatment pl…

Some dentists can be pretty scummy. My mother in her early 60s didn't have dental insurance and went to a local dentist that was affordable for cleaning. She had a little bit pain in her mouth and her dentist recommended extracting all the teeth and replacing with implants for $1000s! She calls me up and I go visit with her to get an better idea. He gets ticked off because he though we were ready to go right ahead. I was appalled how he could care more about his profit than someones health.

I remembered my own dentist complaining about some swollen gums in my mouth and wanted to surgically treat it because it had gotten too bad. I just told him to deep clean in and lets see in a 6 months. I started regularly flossing and using mouthwash during this time. By 6 months he was surprised that it all recovered with a little cleaning.

Anyway, I took my mother from that place to my own dentist, have them clean her teeth properly and now 10 years later all her teeth are still there any have no pain.

In summary, I don't had trust in most dentists to do what is right for you.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#40

Post by loocsinus »

It is smart that you designed the retainers based on maximum tolerance of tooth movement quoting from a textbook. I suggest you take X ray to make sure no root resorption have occurred. Also for those who want to imitate, measure the length of teeth and compare with the arch length to make sure the teeth can actually "fit" into the arch. I am a dental student.
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