Most teeth align themselves as kids age. This is almost never necessary.
Yes, the 12 billion dollar company must be doing something that no one needs.
Have you heard of the Big 4 consultancies?
How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
61–70 of 135 posts
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#62Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suspect the introduction of the infinite-money pits of insurance doesn't help either. Since I do have the 3D scan of my teeth, I've debated designing my own, but I'm not sure which resins to buy that I could safely put in my mouth every night.
Even if you find a safe resin. Might there be microscopic layer lines? Or other unknowns you're not familiar with? Making 3d prints that can be cleaned is non-trivial, maybe there is a surface finish involved, etc. Also how do you know your design is correct? Won't cause your teeth to move? A 3d scan doesn't mean you know what a mouth guard should look like. All of a sudden, having a product that's made with a vetted…
I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to convince me of. I did pay the $600, I even said that it's probably a cheap price to pay to treat the apnea.
That doesn't really change the fact that it feels kind of viscerally wrong to pay $600 to pay for two glorified pieces of plastic, and a part of me still does feel I could clone it competently. I haven't bothered for the aforementioned safe resin, and also because I already have it and I have enough money to just eat the cost and complain about it.
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#64Most teeth align themselves as kids age. This is almost never necessary.
Yes, the 12 billion dollar company must be doing something that no one needs.
If you look at places in the world where there are no dentists... their teeth are excellent.
Anecdotally, our three boys all were told they MUST have braces (each for different reasons). We did this for exactly none of them. And their teeth came out perfect by adulthood.
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#651) Currently on invisign - mould 24 of 42
2) For 5k (Cdn) - I get 42 moulds, a method used to scan and submit my progress for each mould duration, feedback and advice from a dentist, a scan test to see who they fit
3) Considering the cost of braces and the flexibility these allow (as long as you are disciplined in wearing them) it's well worth it
4) My teeth were really misaligned. At 42 I just decided to do it so I could smile more in pics. Not confidence issue, just sometimes in life you have to do things for yourself
5) You can see the 3d printing lines and its pretty detailed given how lightweight and accurate the shape is for each tooth
6) There are little mounts they install on your teeth for the moulds to latch on to as well, so its not just a fit on the teeth but the mounts as well
7) Each individual mould has a unique number on the package in comes in as well as on the mould. Each package has my name, the dentist and the mould number out of 42.
8) I could see changes starting with mould 6
9) If look even close to mould 42, I will be extactic
10) it also comes with an attachment for your phone that alows you to submit self exams each mould. Its really cool. its very impressive
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#66Tangential, but I have sleep apnea. Fortunately I have it mild enough to get away with a mouthpiece instead of a CPAP (which is good anyway because I also have bruxism). The mouthpiece works great and I would recommend everyone get tested for sleep apnea if your insurance covers it, but I have to admit that paying for it bothered me. Even with insurance covering some of it, it cost me about $600. I know that there's…
With sleep apnea, I highly recommend you look into myofunctional therapy, which is like airway physical therapy. (full disclosure, my mom is a myofunctional therapist). It worked for several friends; They still use their cpap but they get much better sleep after committing to a routine. Not advertising but spreading the word, find someone local!
I hadn't heard of this. I'll give it a look and see if I my insurance covers it...thanks!
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every business still operating on that basis has a moat somewhere else.
Yes this. Either have a moat or be a commodity. Commodities are cost plus
In a market with perfect price discovery, sure. However, over the years I have learned that even the best products for the job can (and will) lose without the right marketing, sales, distribution, etc.
Sometimes the entrenched default that collects an inertial premium doesn't get disrupted...
But, yes, anyone without a moat who operates with a presumption of retention runs the risk of being knocked off of their perch; their fate left to others.
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#681) Currently on invisign - mould 24 of 42 2) For 5k (Cdn) - I get 42 moulds, a method used to scan and submit my progress for each mould duration, feedback and advice from a dentist, a scan test to see who they fit 3) Considering the cost of braces and the flexibility these allow (as long as you are disciplined in wearing them) it's well worth it 4) My teeth were really misaligned. At 42 I just decided to do it so I…
Best of luck! I completed mine 2 years ago and have to say it was 100% worth the patience.
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, the 12 billion dollar company must be doing something that no one needs.
If you look at places in the world where there are no dentists... their teeth are excellent. Anecdotally, our three boys all were told they MUST have braces (each for different reasons). We did this for exactly none of them. And their teeth came out perfect by adulthood.
My childhood teeth were perfect until I became a young adult and my wisdom teeth came in. My Ortho assured me that I had space and I didn't need them removed. I never had my wisdom teeth taken out, but they did shift all my naturally straight teeth and some became crooked. I'm looking into Invisalign to correct this because it does cause self confidence issues and I want to have my toothy smile back.
Re: How Invisalign became the biggest user of 3D printers
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many of these risks and problems are exaggerated in scope and potential due to both a desire for a regulatory moat and a general fear of litigation in the medical space? That is to say, how good is “good enough” when done at small-scale in developing nations or medically underserved communities?
These kinds of things can slowly move your bone structure over time. After all, that is their entire point . You don't want to accidentally mess up your teeth and jaw even more.
This would be what I'd worry about. How many of us do any metrology on our printed artefacts? It's really easy to get a subtly warped print and without having some sort of calibration of the process I wouldn't want to make any accuracy claims whatsoever.