Digital planning services

Clear aligner treatment planning

Professional digital setup and staging for clear aligner cases.

Clear aligner treatment planning turns a pair of intraoral scans and a written prescription into a staged, reviewable digital plan. Each tooth is segmented from the upper and lower scans, a setup is built to the finish you have prescribed, and then the harder question is answered: how the teeth travel there. That means how much movement each aligner carries, which teeth move together and which are held, where attachments are needed to give the aligner purchase, and where interproximal reduction creates space. Occlusion and collisions are checked across the sequence, not only at the end. What comes back is a versioned plan you open in the browser: a stage-by-stage simulation, a per-tooth movement table, an attachment map and an IPR chart. You comment, we revise, and nothing is prepared for production until you approve a version.

• Per-tooth segmentation of both arches from your STL, PLY or OBJ meshes, with crown anatomy preserved
• A digital setup built to your written prescription, with a movement table per tooth in millimeters and degrees
• Sequential staging with a stated per-stage limit for each movement type
• Attachment shape, tooth in FDI notation, and the stage each attachment is bonded and removed
• An IPR schedule in tenths of a millimeter, contact by contact, tied to the stage at which it is performed
• Occlusal contact and interference review across the staged sequence, not only at the final stage
• A stage-by-stage 3D simulation from initial position to planned finish
• Revisions from your tooth-specific, stage-specific or attachment-specific comments, issued as new numbered versions
• Approved models and treatment data prepared for your laboratory or manufacturing partner after sign-off

Orthodontic digital setups

3D tooth positioning and treatment simulation based on prescribed treatment goals.

A digital setup is the orthodontic study model rebuilt in three dimensions and moved to the position you want the case to finish in. It answers one question precisely: what does this dentition look like when your objectives are met? Each tooth is segmented, given a long axis, and positioned against a chosen arch form, a decided midline, and stated overjet and overbite targets, with the arches articulated so posterior contact can be judged rather than assumed. The setup is where the disagreements happen, which is the point of producing it before staging. You get initial and final models side by side, a per-tooth movement table in millimeters and degrees, and notes on any objective that could not be reached without a change you have not prescribed. You approve it, revise it, or take it straight to staging.

• Segmented 3D models of both arches with a long axis assigned to every tooth
• Teeth positioned to your prescribed finish, arch by arch and quadrant by quadrant
• Arch form selected or matched to the pre-treatment form, and stated on the plan
• Dental midline related to the opposing midline and to the facial midline from your photographs
• Overjet and overbite recorded at the finish, with the curve of Spee leveled to the depth you specify
• Occlusal contact review in maximum intercuspation on the articulated models
• A movement table per tooth: translation in millimeters, tipping, torque and rotation in degrees
• Initial and final models delivered together so the change is visible rather than described

IPR planning

Digital interproximal reduction planning with tooth-by-tooth documentation.

Interproximal reduction only works when everyone knows how much, where and when. IPR planning starts from a space analysis on the segmented models: how much crowding exists in each arch, how much of it the arch form and the incisor position can absorb, and how much genuinely has to be met by removing enamel. Only the remainder becomes IPR, and it is then placed contact by contact next to the teeth that need the space, sequenced to the stage at which a strip or disc can actually reach the contact. You get an amount per contact in tenths of a millimeter, an arch and quadrant total, the stage each reduction is performed at, and a printable chart for the chair. Where expansion or proclination would serve better than stripping, the plan says so.

• A space analysis per arch: crowding or spacing in millimeters, and how much each strategy contributes
• IPR amount per contact in tenths of a millimeter, written by the two teeth in FDI notation
• The aligner stage at which each reduction is performed
• Running totals per quadrant and per arch, so the cumulative enamel removal is visible at a glance
• A printable chairside IPR chart, laid out in arch order
• Contacts where expansion, proclination or a change in arch form would replace stripping, with the trade-off stated
• Contacts deliberately left untouched, and why, so an omission is not read as an oversight

Attachment planning

Strategic attachment placement and visualization.

An aligner is a smooth shell over smooth crowns, and on its own it can push a tooth over but struggles to lift it, rotate it or move its root. Attachments are the composite features that give the plastic something to act against, and planning them is a mechanical exercise, not a cosmetic one: each attachment is chosen from the movement it has to produce or resist, positioned on the crown where that force does the intended work, and scheduled to the stage where the movement begins and the stage where it is no longer needed. You get an attachment map on the 3D setup, a bonding list by FDI tooth number with shape, surface and position, and the stages each attachment is placed and removed. Where you would rather avoid a visible attachment, the plan shows what that costs.

• Attachment shape and dimensions per tooth, described in plain geometric terms rather than brand names
• Position on the crown: surface, and height relative to the gingival margin and incisal or occlusal edge
• The movement each attachment exists to produce or to resist, stated tooth by tooth
• The stage each attachment is bonded and the stage it is removed
• A 3D visualization of the attachment set on the planned setup, viewable stage by stage
• A bonding list in FDI notation for the chair, and attachment geometry carried into the production models for template design
• Aesthetic-zone alternatives where you ask for them, with the control they give up written out
• Teeth deliberately left without attachments, and the reason, so an omission reads as a decision

Treatment staging

Organize planned tooth movements into sequential aligner stages.

A setup shows where the teeth finish. Staging decides how they get there, and it is where most aligner cases succeed or stop tracking. Staging answers four questions: how much each tooth moves per aligner, which movements happen at the same time and which wait their turn, which teeth are being used as anchorage and whether they can hold, and where the plan should ask for more than the target so the result lands on it. Every one of those choices changes the stage count, so the count is an output of the plan rather than a number set at the start. You get the movements divided into numbered stages with the limits stated openly, a sequencing rationale for the difficult movements, the stage count per arch, and a simulation you can play and comment on stage by stage.

• Planned movements divided into numbered sequential stages, arch by arch
• The per-stage limit applied to each movement type, stated rather than implied
• Sequencing of difficult movements, with the reason each was placed early, late or alone
• Anchorage plan: which teeth are held, what holds them, and where reciprocal movement is expected
• Any planned overcorrection, named tooth by tooth, so it is never mistaken for the target
• Stage count per arch, and where the arches are held in step or allowed to run at different lengths
• A stage-by-stage 3D simulation from initial position to final stage
• Interference and collision checks run across the sequence, not only at the finish

Revision and refinement planning

Modify existing setups from your comments, and plan refinements from a new scan.

Two different pieces of work share this page. A revision changes a plan that has not yet been made: you have reviewed a version, something does not match your intent, and the setup, staging, attachments or IPR are altered and reissued as a new numbered version with a change log against the old one. A refinement replans a case that is already in treatment, from a fresh scan of where the teeth actually are. The two are different because their starting data is different: a revision works from the same records, while a refinement has to measure what expressed and what did not before it can plan anything. In both, the earlier version is preserved rather than overwritten, the case number stays the same, and what changed is written down so that you can see it rather than reconstruct it.

• A new numbered version of the plan, with the previous version preserved and still viewable
• A change log naming what was altered: which teeth, which stages, which attachments, which IPR contacts
• For refinements, a residual movement table measured from the new scan against the original target
• For refinements, a record of IPR already performed, so no contact is scheduled for reduction twice
• Restaged sequence for the remaining movements, with the per-stage limits stated as in any staged plan
• A revised attachment set: which existing attachments are kept, which are removed, and which are added
• Comparison of the original target, the position actually reached, and the new plan's target

Complex case planning

Detailed digital planning for selected challenging cases, with additional review rounds.

Some cases do not fit a standard workflow, not because the software is different but because the decisions are. Extraction space closure has an anchorage problem before it has a movement problem. A deep bite has to be resolved by a route you choose, and the three available routes have different mechanics and different stability. A periodontally reduced dentition changes where the center of resistance sits on every tooth involved. A case heading for restorative work has to finish where the restorations need it, not where the arch would naturally settle. Complex case planning takes longer, carries more documented reasoning and includes additional review rounds, because the value is in the discussion before the geometry, and the case selection remains yours.

• A written plan of approach before the setup is built, so the strategy is agreed rather than assumed
• Explicit anchorage analysis where the case demands it, including where staging alone will not be sufficient
• Alternative approaches where more than one is defensible, set out with the trade-offs rather than a single answer
• Extended staging with the difficult movements sequenced and their per-stage limits stated separately
• Additional review rounds built into the workflow, rather than treated as extra revisions
• Documentation of every compromise: what was not achievable within the prescription and what would change it
• Where restorative work follows, the finishing positions the restorations require, marked tooth by tooth

Lab-ready digital files

Approved digital models and treatment data prepared for downstream production workflows.

An approved plan is not yet a production job. The models a laboratory prints and thermoforms have to be watertight, oriented, based, labeled and unambiguous, and the data that travels alongside them, attachment geometry, trim lines, IPR amounts and stage numbers, has to say the same thing as the models. File preparation is the step that turns an approved version into that package. It happens after your approval and changes nothing clinical: the tooth positions are the ones you signed off, stage by stage. What it adds is the mechanical hygiene a production workflow needs, in the formats and naming conventions your laboratory actually uses, so that files arrive ready to print rather than ready to be argued about.

• Per-stage arch models for both arches, exported from the approved version
• Meshes checked for production: watertight, correctly oriented, free of inverted normals and stray shells
• Attachment geometry present on the models at the stages it is bonded, and absent at the stages it is not
• A trim line for each stage, cut to the height agreed with your laboratory rather than assumed
• Model bases prepared to the specification your laboratory works to, including any hollowing or labeling it requires
• Stage numbers and arch identification embossed or labeled on the models where the laboratory asks for it
• The IPR schedule and attachment list exported as documents that accompany the models
• A consistent file naming convention, agreed once and applied to every case

Digital space maintainers

Fixed and removable space maintainers designed from your scans, with wire, acrylic and contacts verified before fabrication.

A space maintainer has one job: to hold the space left by a prematurely lost primary tooth until the successor erupts. Whether it is a band and loop, a lingual holding arch, a Nance appliance or a removable acrylic plate, the design decisions are the same ones a good technician makes at the bench, and they can be made more precisely on a scan. The wire is drawn at the gauge you specify, following the form you want, with clasps placed where the retained teeth actually offer undercut. Acrylic is built with the bulk and contours the mouth of a child will tolerate. Every contact is checked against the retained teeth and the opposing arch before anything is fabricated. What you receive is a design you can review and revise in the browser, then CAD-ready files for your own laboratory or CAM partner, with a chairside adjustment guide to accompany the appliance.

• Fixed and removable space maintainers designed to your specifications: band and loop, crown and loop, lingual holding arch, Nance appliance, transpalatal arch and removable acrylic designs
• Wire design with precise gauge, form and clasp placement, drawn on the scan and stated in the design notes
• Acrylic bulk, undercuts and contours for retention and comfort, with relief where the appliance crosses erupting or mobile teeth
• Contact verification against retained teeth and opposing dentition, so the appliance does not open the bite or trap the occlusion
• Space analysis recorded on the scan: the width of the space, the mesiodistal size of the successor where it can be estimated, and the position of the abutment teeth
• CAD-ready files for your laboratory or CAM partner in the mesh format they use, with bands, wires and acrylic as separate objects where the workflow needs them
• A chairside adjustment guide included with every design: where the wire may be adjusted, where it must not be, and what to check at delivery

Digital CAD/CAM rapid palatal expanders

Expansion screw position, arm geometry, retention and palatal adaptation designed from your imaging, with contact simulated across the full expansion range.

A rapid palatal expander is a mechanical appliance, and the mechanics are decided in the design. Where the screw sits along the midpalatal suture, how it is oriented to the occlusal plane, how the arms reach the anchor teeth and how the framework sits against the palate all determine whether the force goes where it should and whether the patient tolerates the appliance. Designing digitally from your scans and imaging lets these decisions be made explicitly and checked before anything is made. The screw is positioned and oriented from the anatomy you supply, the retention is designed tooth by tooth against the actual surfaces of the anchor teeth, and the palatal surface of the appliance is adapted to the vault with the clearance you prescribe. The design is then simulated through the full expansion range to check that nothing binds and nothing touches that should not. You review and approve it in the browser, and the fabrication-ready files go to your laboratory with the screw specification.

• Expansion screw position and orientation designed from your imaging, centred on the midpalatal suture and set parallel to the occlusal plane or to the angle you prescribe
• Precise hinge geometry and mechanical advantage calculation for fan-type and differential designs, and arm geometry for parallel designs
• Retention clasps, bands or bonded pads with tooth-specific contact surfaces designed from the scan of each anchor tooth
• Palatal surface adaptation with midpalatal anatomy integration, following the vault with the clearance you specify and relief over the rugae and the suture
• Contact simulation across the full expansion range, so the arms, screw body and framework are checked against the teeth and palate at every activation, not only at delivery
• Metal or acrylic fabrication-ready files with screw specifications: printed or milled framework geometry, or an acrylic body with wire and screw positions, in the format your laboratory uses
• A design summary stating screw type, expansion range, activation direction and the anchor teeth, for the laboratory and for your records

Digital MARPE appliances

Miniscrew-assisted expanders designed around the anchor positions you mark on the 3D model, with screw access, palatal contours and contact simulation at each anchor.

A miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expander delivers its force through the palate rather than through the teeth, which makes the position of the miniscrews the central decision of the design. That decision is yours: you mark the insertion positions on the 3D model, informed by your CBCT, and the appliance is built around them. The expansion mechanics are designed so that the screw and the anchors work together, the appliance provides access for inserting and activating each miniscrew, and the palatal contours are shaped to sit clear of the soft tissue except where the anchors pass through. The design is then simulated at each miniscrew position to confirm that the geometry, the insertion axis and the clearance are what you marked. You review it in the browser, tooth by tooth and anchor by anchor, and the approved version is delivered as fabrication-ready geometry with the screw specification and insertion instructions.

• Miniscrew placement positions marked by you on the 3D model, with the insertion axis and depth you specify, recorded in the design
• Expansion mechanics designed around the screw anchors: the expansion screw positioned relative to the anchor sites, with the arms and body arranged so that force is delivered through the miniscrews
• Screw access design for insertion and activation: guide slots or rings at each anchor with clearance for the driver, and unobstructed access to the expansion screw
• Palatal vault contours designed to prevent soft tissue trauma, with the appliance body held off the mucosa except at the anchor sites and relieved over the rugae
• Contact simulation at miniscrew positions, checking that each guide slot meets the palate at the marked position and angle and that no other part of the body touches tissue or teeth
• Tooth-borne components where your design uses them: bands or bonded pads on the anchor teeth with tooth-specific contact surfaces
• Fabrication-ready geometry with screw specifications and insertion instructions: expansion screw and miniscrew specifications, insertion sequence and driver access, in the format your laboratory uses

Digital twin block and functional appliances

Functional appliances designed from two registered positions, with bite block geometry, retention, guiding planes and staged modifications specified.

A functional appliance works by holding the mandible in a position it does not occupy at rest, so the design begins from two positions rather than one: the habitual occlusion and the functional bite you have registered. Everything else follows from the relationship between them. The vertical opening at the anterior teeth is set precisely, the bite blocks are built with contact surfaces that hold the functional position and guide the mandible back into it, retention is designed tooth by tooth, and guiding planes are shaped for the eruption, movement or proprioceptive correction you intend. Because functional treatment is staged, the design also specifies the progressive modifications, such as trimming the upper block to allow eruption, so that each stage is planned rather than improvised. You review the design in the browser in both positions, and the approved version goes to your laboratory as fabrication-ready files.

• Design from two registered positions: the habitual occlusion and the functional bite, both articulated from your registrations and shown in the review interface
• Precise vertical opening height at the anterior teeth, set to your prescription and stated in the design notes, with the corresponding interocclusal clearance in the buccal segments
• Bite block geometry with contact surface relationships: inclined planes at the angle you prescribe, with the upper and lower blocks meeting so that the mandible is held forward and guided back into position
• Retention clasps or adhesive surfaces tooth-specifically designed from the scan, including Adams, ball and labial bow components for removable designs
• Guiding planes for eruption, functional movement or proprioceptive correction, shaped for the teeth you want to erupt, the movement you want to permit and the position you want the patient to find
• Progressive modification specifications for staged treatment protocols: which surfaces are trimmed, by how much and at which stage, so the laboratory and the chairside follow the same plan
• Fabrication-ready files for printed or conventional acrylic construction, with wire components specified by gauge and position

Any orthodontic appliance by prescription

Custom CAD/CAM design for any appliance type, reviewed tooth by tooth and approved by you in 3D before fabrication.

Not every appliance fits a named service, and it should not have to. If you can write a prescription for it, it can be designed: a Hawley or wraparound retainer, a transpalatal arch, a lingual arch with a specific feature, a habit appliance, an anterior bite plane, a distalizing appliance, a splint with orthodontic components, or an appliance of your own design. The process is the same as for every other service. The appliance is designed from your scans to your prescription, you review it tooth by tooth in the browser and comment on anything you want changed, and the revised version comes back for your approval in 3D. Only then is anything exported, in the format your laboratory prefers, with chairside instructions and material specifications. Where you ask for it, production is overseen so that what is fabricated matches the geometry you approved.

• Custom CAD/CAM design for any appliance type, built from your scans to the prescription you write
• Tooth-by-tooth review and revision from your feedback, with comments attached to a tooth, a component or the design as a whole, and each revision issued as a new numbered version
• 3D approval before any fabrication begins: nothing is exported until you approve a version
• Export in your laboratory's preferred format, with components separated where the workflow needs them
• Chairside instructions and material specifications: delivery checks, adjustable and non-adjustable elements, and the wire gauges, acrylic and metal the design assumes
• Production oversight to match approved digital geometry, where you ask for it: the fabricated appliance checked against the approved design before it reaches you

Indirect bonding (IDB) and debonding

Virtual bracket placement to MBT, Roth or your own prescription, with 3D-printable transfer trays and a debonding-stage model set.

Indirect bonding moves the precision of bracket placement from the chair to the screen. Each bracket is positioned virtually on the segmented scan, to the prescription you use and the height and angulation you specify, and you review the placement tooth by tooth before any tray is made. Once you approve, a transfer tray is designed to carry the brackets to the mouth in exactly those positions: a printable tray in one or two layers, split or full-arch, trimmed to the gingival margins you want. A debonding model set at the end of treatment is prepared on request. What the service delivers is the placement, the tray geometry and the documentation; the brackets, the printing and the bonding remain with you and your laboratory.

• Virtual bracket placement to your prescription: MBT, Roth or a custom prescription, with slot height, angulation and in-out set per tooth
• FA-point or custom placement heights, with the bracket library your laboratory stocks or a generic geometry where the exact bracket is not available digitally
• A tooth-by-tooth placement review in the browser, with comments attached to the tooth and each revision issued as a new version
• Printable transfer trays as STL: full-arch or segmented, single-layer or dual-layer, with the tray extent and trimming you specify
• A placement chart listing each bracket's tooth, height and offsets, for chairside verification
• Debonding-stage models on request: the arches at the planned finish, prepared for retainer fabrication