Treatment and laboratory process

Although you suffer from malocclusion, braces were always out of question for you for aesthetic reasons?

Figure 1
Figure 2

In that case, invisible lingual braces offer an alternative for you.

If you decide on this option after being briefed by your orthodontist, silicone impressions (fig. 1 and fig. 2) of your teeth are taken and sent to a special laboratory where plaster casts are then made from them.

Figure 3

The plaster teeth are sawn out by experienced dental technicians and then embedded in wax in the way your own teeth are to be aligned at the end of the therapy. This so-called set-up is then scanned by a high-resolution optical 3D scanner (fig. 3).

Figure 4
Figure 5

Afterwards individualized brackets for your teeth are processed on a computer having the appropriate design software (fig. 4 and fig. 5).

Figure 6
Figure 7

Then the virtual bracket series is converted into a wax analogue using high-end rapid prototyping machines (fig. 6), provided with cast rods, embedded in plaster and then cast in gold lingual brackets (fig. 7).

Figure 8

Later, the brackets are surface-treated and embedded in a silicone transfer tray. Using this tray, your orthodontist can later bond all brackets onto your teeth with maximum precision and at the same time without the risk that a bracket is not positioned correctly (fig. 8).

Figure 9
Figure 10

While the treatment is running, the subsequently inserted archwire is specially shaped to force your teeth into the correct position. Based on the bracket positioning data, the exact shape required for your therapy is bent into the archwire by a computer-controlled bending robot (fig. 9, fig. 10 and fig. 11).

Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13

Once the braces have been bonded (fig. 12), a look into the mirror during the very first weeks will reveal first signs of success: The view of the improvements is not obscured, as it would be the case with conventional braces bonded to the exposed side of the teeth. On the other hand, it is true that it will take some days to get accustomed to the foreign body in your mouth.

Unlike the therapy with "normal" braces, particularly the tongue will be affected here. However, with the vast majority of patients the adaptation process takes less than a fortnight, especially due to the fact that the Incognito braces are made-to-measure.