Laser marking and engraving has been put to use by diverse industries, with the medical field being a prominent sector in need of the clean, crisp marks that laser systems can provide.
As a subset of the medical field, dental practices and dental equipment manufacturers can greatly benefit from laser marking, particularly if they opt for laser marking clear dental aligners. We’ll take a look below at some application possibilities, system options, and more, so read on.
About Clear Dental Aligners
Clear dental aligners, also known as invisible aligners, are types of orthopedic equipment that are utilized to straighten teeth that are crooked or that have become misaligned.
Dentists will often use these aligners for patients to treat:
- Crowded teeth
- Overbites and underbites
- Gaps in the teeth, or diastema
- Open bites that do not fully close
- Misaligned baby teeth
Patients often prefer clear dental aligners to braces due to ease of upkeep, comfort, and aesthetics (since the aligners are virtually invisible, especially in photographs).
Some of the most prominent brands of dental aligners include Invisalign, Byte, Candid, ClearConnect, SnapCorrect, and ALIGNERCO, and all of these brands are excellent candidates for laser engraving clear dental aligners.
Application Opportunities to Laser Mark Clear Dental Aligners
It’s essential for medical information to be correct, precise, and readable since this information is key to quality of care and often needs to be understood by many people, including manufacturers, suppliers, doctors, nurses, lab techs, and patients. That is why orthodontists and dental equipment manufacturers alike have turned to laser marking dental aligners as a way to appropriately identify and differentiate patient products.
One of the best aspects about laser marking systems is that they not only supply clean, clear marks, but that they do so again and again without issue. This repeatability means thousands of pieces of medical equipment, including clear dental aligners, can be marked with ease.
Some of the possible engravings a company could place on clear dental aligners include:
- Product names
- Branding information
- Logos
- Serial numbers
- 2D and data matrix codes
- Date codes
These are just some examples, of course, and virtually anything could be engraved by a company to assist in traceability or aesthetics. Plus, whenever you’re laser marking clear dental aligners, the design of the engraving can be tailored to your application preferences and needs.
As patients all have unique teeth sizes, shapes, and angles, clear aligner manufacturers require the ability to easily adjust the position of the marking data for each unique aligner. TYKMA Electrox has developed custom software tools to allow for on-the-fly adjustment of the marking data, position, and angle. We can also work directly with several of the popular dental software packages on the market, including 3Shape.
Systems for Laser Engraving Clear Dental Aligners
If you’re looking to laser engrave clear dental aligners, TYKMA Electrox has diverse systems available, but there are two that we tend to recommend for the application:
- Vereo 3D Laser – A 3-axis fiber laser marking system that allows for rapid focus shifting when marking aligners of various heights and shapes.
- Vereo UV Integration Laser – Our UV laser provides enhanced marking quality on specific material types used in the manufacture of clear aligners. In addition, the UV has a wide range of focal forgiveness, removing the need to adjust focal height between aligner surfaces.
When you choose TYKMA Electrox as your supplier of systems for laser marking dental appliances, you also get benefits such as:
- Systems with air-cooled, solid-state, maintenance-free designs
- Industry-leading warranties
- Up to 100,000-hour product lifespans
- Compact machine footprints in simple modular designs
- Efficient MOPA fiber laser technology
- Simple setup, programming, and marking
- Tutorials and 24-hour assistance
FAQs for Laser Marking Clear Dental Aligners
For additional information about laser marking clear dental aligners, feel free to explore the answers to some of our most commonly asked questions.
What are the steps to take for laser marking dental aligners?
Looking to utilize an individual workstation from TYKMA Electrox for laser marking clear dental aligners? If so, here are the steps that we recommend to achieve the best results:
- Clean the surface of your dental aligners
- Secure the dental aligners in your laser marking workstation
- Ensure the settings meet your project specifications
- Run a small test pass to ensure the laser’s settings match your preferences
- Start laser marking dental aligners
- Check the final product and start cleanup if results have been met
Does laser marking clear dental aligners affect the treatment of teeth?
No. Due to the precision and durability of our systems for laser marking dental aligners, the result shouldn’t affect the structural integrity of your aligner, as well as interfere with the treatment itself. That means your dental aligners should fit comfortably in a patient’s mouth throughout their treatment, even with the final mark on its surface.
How long does the process take for laser marking dental aligners?
Though the duration of the process can vary depending on what’s being engraved, dental aligners should not take long to laser mark due to their size, only taking a few minutes to set up your system and complete the process.
Does the quality of the engraving on dental aligners fade over time?
Not at all. When laser marking dental aligners, the end product should leave a clear and high-contrast engraving that does not fade under regular wear and tear. This can include dental aligners that are placed in your mouth for several hours at a time.
If you have any additional questions about laser marking clear dental aligners, we are more than happy to answer them for you. Please reach out to our team directly with your inquiries or check out our facts and insights for an inside look at our products and application history.
Other Possibilities for Laser Marking Dental Aligners
Of course, laser engraving clear dental aligners isn’t the only way a manufacturer or dental practice can utilize laser marking and engraving.
Our systems can mark on a wide range of materials, including:
- Steel
- Stainless steel
- Titanium
- Aluminum
- Anodized aluminum
- Brass and copper
- Nickel-plated materials
- Galvanized materials
- Carbide
- Painted materials
- Black oxide
- ABS plastic
- Polyethylene plastics
- Glass-filled plastics
- Various other plastics
- PCD
This means that virtually any equipment made out of the above materials is applicable for laser marking, including surgical tools, cleaning instruments, X-ray and diagnostic equipment, dental chairs, and much more.
Be sure to get in touch with our team if you have any questions about laser marking dental aligners and other dental appliances and we can offer insights.
Contact Us for Laser Marking Clear Dental Aligners
Ready to laser mark clear dental aligners and other essential dental equipment? Contact us today and we can deliver a precise, reliable system that will get the job done.
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