Photography by Gam1983 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / via Getty Imagesv
The science of teeth-straightening began generations ago inside an office in Grand Center, where Dr. Edward Angle opened the world’s first school of orthodontics. Today, only a few miles from the building where the “father of orthodontics” introduced the world to the power of straightened smiles, researchers are continuing St. Louis’ tradition of advancement in the field.
Faculty at Saint Louis University’s Center for Advanced Dental Education are working to test new technology that could change the way orthodontists treat patients with misaligned teeth. Through a partnership with Graphy, a South Korean medical technology company, SLU researchers have spent the past two years testing direct 3D–printed aligners that offer the potential to make the process for tooth movement quicker, more precise, and less wasteful. “This will change the entire orthodontic field,” says Dr. Ki Beom Kim, SLU’s orthodontic program director.
Precision is crucial to a successful treatment plan, and direct-printed aligners represent an opportunity for orthodontists to create aligners that are more precise than ever before. Clear aligners, such as the popular Invisalign, are made from thermoformed plastic sheets that are molded to press teeth into place. It’s an effective process but doesn’t leave much room for customization. Direct 3D printing, Kim says, would allow orthodontists more freedom to make alterations, such as creating distinct thicknesses and pressure points throughout the appliance.
Then there’s the eco-friendly benefit promised by printed aligners, which use less plastic to develop the aligner and produce less nonrecyclable scrap. “The environmental impact is just enormous,” Kim says. “Those plastic models cannot be recycled… Every year, there are millions of tons of plastic waste that we are creating.”
SLU is also working with YOAT, a medical technology manufacturer based in Washington, to test an on-site retainer-bending machine that will create more precise retainers and reduce the time it takes to make alterations. For years, orthodontists have had to bend retainer wires by hand; it can often take days to deliver a finished product that’s ready for a patient’s mouth. With YOAT’s new technology, the entire process will take approximately 10 minutes. Kim is hoping to get a prototype of the machine by this summer.
“If the orthodontist looks at the patient’s mouth and says, ‘OK, I want to bring this tooth down a half millimeter, whatever degree in, and whatever degree torque,’ it will dictate to the computer software,” Kim says. “This machine will then bend the wire chairside in just a few minutes.”
Who knows what Angle would have thought? It is only fitting, though, that such key innovations in the field are happening in St. Louis. “It’s a very special place,” Kim says. “It’s like a mecca of orthodontics.”
Collaborative Care
For two days every month, an operating room inside Barnes-Jewish Hospital is used for dental care. It’s part of a recently launched program to provide oral-health services to patients who have severe physical, mental, or developmental disabilities and require specialized care under general anesthesia. Established as a collaborative effort between A.T. Still University–Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health, Affinia Healthcare, and Washington University School of Medicine, the initiative identifies people in need of high-level care and provides free services covered by Missouri’s Medicaid program, MO HealthNet.
