DIY orthodontics
Amos Dudley wanted to improve his smile but didn’t want to pay thousands of dollars for Invisalign, so he 3D printed his own orthodontic aligners.
I took a mold of my teeth with some cheap alginate powder, Permastone, and a 3d printed impression tray, to get a better picture of what was really going on. Notice LI-r (right lateral incisor) projected outward, and CI-r (right central incisor) depressed inward and overlapping.
At the time of writing this, I’m an undergrad, which means that a) I’m broke, and b) I have access to expensive digital fabrication tools - definitely an unusual dichotomy. I was researching [name brand clear-aligner treatment], and I ran across a photo that caught my eye.
Those look like the layer striations from a 3D print!
What is to stop someone, who has access to a 3D printer, from making their own orthodontic aligners?
Update: Unsurprisingly, orthodontists feel that DIY dentistry is not such a great idea.
Belli notes, “He moved these teeth in only 16 weeks. You can cause a lot of problems with that. If you move a tooth too fast, you can actually cause damage to the bone and gums. And if you don’t put the tooth in the right position, you could throw off your bite,” leading to additional damage and wear on the teeth.
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