Rethinking Dental Aligner Manufacturing
Clear aligners have transformed orthodontics. The process is simple: a patient’s teeth are 3D scanned, corrections are made digitally, and the updated model is 3D printed. These prints then serve as moulds for vacuum or thermoforming transparent aligners.
What’s not so simple is the waste. Current production relies on SLA 3D printing because of its accuracy and surface finish. Yet SLA resin is expensive, energy-intensive, and rarely biodegradable. With each patient typically needing 10–40 aligners, the industry is locked into a cycle of one-time-use moulds and spiralling costs.
The catch is that these moulds don’t need to be solid. The only critical feature is the outer surface. If the print could be shelled, with thin and precise walls, the material and time savings would be enormous.
That’s where Fyous' PolyMorphic Moulding comes in.
A New Approach with PolyMorphic Moulding
Fyous ran a trial using its PolyMorphic moulding machine, a system that creates reusable moulds from thousands of reconfigurable pins. The aim was simple: test whether shelled moulds, supported by pin tooling, could dramatically cut resin use while still delivering aligners of the same quality.
The process began with a standard 3D teeth model, which was then shelled in CAD to a 0.3 mm wall thickness. This thin-walled geometry was printed in Formlabs Grey V4 resin on a Form 3 printer. At the same time, Fyous’s Object Surface Point Mapper (OSPM) software translated the same geometry into instructions for the PolyMorphic Forming Machine, much like a slicer does for 3D printers.
OSPM Software Application Result
Within five minutes, the pin bed had reshaped itself to the exact tooth geometry. The fragile 3D printed shell was then placed over the pins, which acted as a structural backbone. Without this support, the hollow mould simply collapsed under vacuum forming pressure. With the pins, it held perfectly.
Material and Time Savings
Comparing solid and shelled moulds showed the scale of the improvement.
- A solid mould required 12.85 ml of resin.
- The shelled mould achieved the same outcome with just 1.24 ml.
That’s a 10X reduction in material use. Print times also fell to 42 minutes for shelled versus 54 minutes for solid, showing an efficiency gain of 22%.
|
|
Shelled |
Solid |
Saving |
|
Time |
42 min |
54 min |
22% |
|
Material |
1.24 ml |
12.85 ml |
1/10th |
|
1m units |
1,240 L |
12,850 L |
11,610 L |
|
Cost (£150/L) |
£186,000 |
£1,927,500 |
£1,741,500 |
Why This Matters
The global dental aligner market produces millions of moulds every year. The resin costs alone run into the hundreds of millions of pounds, with the associated waste leading to major impacts on sustainability.
Thanks to PolyMoprhic Moulding, manufacturers can now save up to 90% material waste, reduce energy consumption and lower costs, all without compromising patient outcomes or product quality. It’s a more sustainable alternative that could completely change the industry's approach to production.
The Next Step Towards Sustainable Dentistry
Dentistry’s challenge is clear: maintain the precision patients expect while reducing the environmental and financial burden of manufacturing. Fyous’s approach proves it’s possible. By combining shelled prints with reconfigurable pin tooling, the industry could shift from wasteful, resin-heavy processes to leaner, smarter, and greener manufacturing.
The technology is ready. The question is: how long before the aligner industry takes notice?
