SureSmile is a type of customized orthodontic arch wires used by orthodontists to straighten

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

. The technique utilizes 3-D imaging, treatment planning

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

and a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

to create the wires. The technique is reported to decrease the time required to complete orthodontic treatment by 34% and increase the precision of the results.

Design

The orthodontist uses

digital images A digital image is an image composed of picture elements, also known as ''pixels'', each with ''finite'', '' discrete quantities'' of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions f ...

of a patient's mouth and teeth from either a white light scanner or

cone beam computed tomography Cone beam computed tomography (or CBCT, also referred to as C-arm CT, cone beam volume CT, flat panel CT or Digital Volume Tomography (DVT)) is a medical imaging technique consisting of X-ray computed tomography where the X-rays are divergent, fo ...

(CBCT). The software takes the teeth and individually aligns them to the proper position. Once the orthodontist has virtually designed the smile and bite, the SureSmile

plans a route for moving the teeth into the proper place and sends this information to a

that bends and shapes the wires to the patient's configurations. The customized wire is then sent back to the orthodontist to be placed on the patient.

Lingual braces

SureSmile has a

lingual Lingual may refer to: * Tongue, a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication * Lingual, in palaeontology, the side of the teeth that faces the tongue * Lingual artery arises from the e ...

or behind teeth braces option called SureSmile QT. With lingual braces, brackets are adhered to the underside of the teeth on the top arch, bottom arch or both arches. Most patients choose lingual braces for aesthetic reasons, as they cannot be seen. Orthodontists that offer lingual braces will often suggest putting lingual braces on the upper teeth and clear ceramic braces on the bottom though patients can choose to have lingual braces on both arches.

History

The SureSmile technology was developed and is owned by OraMetrix, a company founded in 1998 by Friedrich (Fritz) Riemeier and Dr. Rohit Sachdeva, through the merger of two medical technology companies, one U.S. based and the other, German. The company was launched globally in 1999 with the help of a $150,000 investment from STARTech Early Ventures LLC. Other key investors include Brentwood Venture Capital, CenterPoint Ventures, Rho Ventures and STAR Ventures. The SureSmile System received 510(k) marketing clearance from the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA) in November 2000. In 2003, OraMetrix relocated its U.S. corporate

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

from

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

to a larger, 25,000-square-foot facility in Richardson, Texas.

References

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External links

SureSmile website

Orametrix website
Orthodontic appliances