Who invented invisalign

How did Invisalign start, and who invented it? Shortly thereafter, he went to Stanford to get his MBA. This is where Chishti came up with the concept of Invisalign. He was undergoing orthodontic treatment while at Stanford, and he envisioned an alternative treatment that used clear aligners instead of braces. Chishti worked on his concept of Invisalign in his dorm room, with some help from his friends at Stanford.

Invisalign was approved by the FDA in , and hit the market shortly thereafter. Chishti left the company in , but Invisalign continued to grow, thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign. It had 80, patients in , which grew to more than , users by the end of Today, Invisalign is in high demand and is seen not as an alternative to braces, but a fair competitor that offers the same results with a proven, yet different, system.

Chishti was an adult orthodontic patient when he came up with the idea of Invisalign. He was struggling with a retainer as part of his own treatment, and realized that such an approach could probably be used for the entire orthodontic procedure. Teaming up with Wirth, the two began looking for developers. As Stanford University students, it made sense to look for partners on their own campus. Their first investors came from Kleiner Perkins Caufield, and like so many startup success stories they began developing their product in a Menlo Park, California, garage.

Freyburger and Lerios took care of the computer graphics part of the company, bringing in fellow graduate student Marc Levoy. The years and saw an upgrade to the technology with the release of Invisalign G3 and G4 that were used for carrying out more complex treatments. The Invisalign Express 5 that was introduced in the year and the G5 version getting released in were designed for treating deep bites.

For individuals of all age groups starting from a year-old to an octogenarian who has no other choices but to opt for metallic braces that are not aesthetically appealing to say the least, advancements in orthodontic technologies have led to the appearance of ceramic braces or porcelain veneers that were less noticeable compared to the metallic or stainless steel dental supports.

Regarding Invisalign as braces is a misnomer as this orthodontic treatment technique basically entails fitting a series or set of trays or retainers for effecting gradual movement of teeth.

The Invisalign trays are constructed out of a supreme grade of durable and transparent plastics that are essentially sterile and can be worn for extended periods without causing discomfort to the wearer. For the Invisalign aligners to efficiently move teeth to the desired extent, they need to be worn for nothing less than 22 hours daily. It is possible to make aligners according to specifications of the particular patient.

Thereafter, an aligner is designed using CAD computer-aided design software, and 3D visualization system. The dentist, on the other hand, has to be tech-savvy and have a fair idea about software design and programming.

Since the invention of Invisalign in and the subsequent patenting, the mechanism has benefited more than 1. Making The Idea Happen With his background in Computer Science, Chishti had a brainwave — these new teeth aligners could first be designed using 3D CAD software to the desired specifics before being sent for manufacturing.

Getting The Brand Out Into The World Development of the technique did not automatically open the doors of recognition for these two Stanford grads, especially since they are not trained orthodontists themselves. Breaking Ties In , Zia Chishti severed his ties with Align Technology, the parent company which was his own creation.