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I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

amosdudley.com

41–50 of 141 posts

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

#41

Awesome work! The animation definitely seems the most difficult (and subjective), but also the most cool! Body hacking via computed geometry! Invisalign (align technology) uses almost the same workflow. Market cap $5.89B. If you could move the workflow over to something based on WebGL / three.js - you could make this accessible to dentists in developing countries. Could be an awesome open source project. I think "all…

Invisalign seems to be mostly used for cosmetic fixes. That doesn't seem too compelling for a dentist in a developing country.

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

#42
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…

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

#43
This also seems to have whitened his teeth at the same time ;), typical "before, after".

But on a serious note, I had braces, after the were remove a wire was placed behind my teeth to keep them in place. It didn't stick to one of my ceramic teeth I had from an accident in my youth. The wire was removed and after some months my front two teeth were as far apart as ever. Ok, the overbite didn't return but things will move back at least to some degree over time.

As mentioned before, I myself would never just put any plastic material in my mouth with all the bad things known about plasticisers, bpa/bps, etc.

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

#44

Awesome work! The animation definitely seems the most difficult (and subjective), but also the most cool! Body hacking via computed geometry! Invisalign (align technology) uses almost the same workflow. Market cap $5.89B. If you could move the workflow over to something based on WebGL / three.js - you could make this accessible to dentists in developing countries. Could be an awesome open source project. I think "all…

Invisalign seems to be mostly used for cosmetic fixes. That doesn't seem too compelling for a dentist in a developing country.

People in developing countries need and want to look good just like everybody else. "Developing country" is pretty much the whole world, except Western Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia / NZ.

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

#45

This is really amazing, man. It's honestly the first 3D printing application I've seen that I can see quickly improving thousands of lives. Just to think of all the people who right now can't afford this procedure, that soon will be able to... it's just really wonderful.

Next I need someone to do orthopedic shoe inserts. Mine cost $600 and only fit my running shoes.

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

#46
post #43

This also seems to have whitened his teeth at the same time ;), typical "before, after". But on a serious note, I had braces, after the were remove a wire was placed behind my teeth to keep them in place. It didn't stick to one of my ceramic teeth I had from an accident in my youth. The wire was removed and after some months my front two teeth were as far apart as ever. Ok, the overbite didn't return but things will…

I had braces at a young age and, like most people, have to wear a retainer at night to prevent our teeth from returning to their natural position. Did you?

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

#47
post #37

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…

That is a standard scam. My wife accidentally went to a random dental office and went through the same thing. Luckily she had the common sense to not sign anything. Then we went on the web and found dozens of people saying the place did that to everyone. She went to a recommended dentist and had it repaired with caps for a tenth the asking amount.

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

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Invisalign seems to be mostly used for cosmetic fixes. That doesn't seem too compelling for a dentist in a developing country.

People in developing countries need and want to look good just like everybody else. "Developing country" is pretty much the whole world, except Western Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia / NZ.

Do you imagine people in countries east of Austria as ugly bunch with crooked teeth, because we're developing and never heard of cosmetic dentistry?

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

#49
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People in developing countries need and want to look good just like everybody else. "Developing country" is pretty much the whole world, except Western Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia / NZ.

Do you imagine people in countries east of Austria as ugly bunch with crooked teeth, because we're developing and never heard of cosmetic dentistry?

Actually, the usual place to stereotype as having crooked teeth is the UK, which is firmly in the "developed" group of countries.

To answer your question, no, "crooked teeth" isn't in the usual list of stereotypes people have about Eastern Europeans.

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

#50
post #37

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…

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