- Attachment
- A small, tooth-colored composite bump bonded to a tooth to give an aligner extra grip for movements like rotation or extrusion that clear plastic alone can't reliably produce.
- CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action)
- A formal quality-system process, required under ISO 13485, for investigating a defect or nonconformance, fixing the immediate problem, and addressing its root cause to prevent recurrence.
- CE Marking
- A conformity marking indicating a product meets the applicable health, safety, and environmental requirements to be sold in the European Economic Area.
- Chairside Refinement
- A treatment adjustment made directly at the practice, as opposed to a refinement that requires new scans sent back to a treatment planning team.
- Class I Malocclusion
- A bite classification where the molar relationship is normal, but individual teeth are crowded, spaced, or rotated.
- Class II Malocclusion
- A bite classification where the lower jaw and lower molars sit further back relative to the upper molars than in a normal bite, often producing an overbite appearance.
- Class III Malocclusion
- A bite classification where the lower jaw and lower molars sit further forward relative to the upper molars than in a normal bite, often producing an underbite appearance.
- DSO (Dental Support Organization)
- A business that provides non-clinical support (administration, purchasing, marketing, sometimes shared clinical infrastructure) to multiple affiliated dental practices, allowing dentists to focus on patient care.
- Essix Material
- A brand family of copolyester (PETG) sheet material from Raintree Essix, commonly used for clear aligners and retainers; Essix ACE and Essix PLUS are common variants within the line. See the full material comparison →
- EU MDR (EU Medical Device Regulation)
- The regulatory framework governing medical devices sold in the European Union, which replaced the earlier Medical Device Directive and introduced stricter clinical evidence and post-market surveillance requirements.
- FDA 510(k) Clearance
- A premarket submission demonstrating that a medical device is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed predicate device, allowing it to be sold in the US without going through full Premarket Approval (PMA). Read the full explainer →
- Flexural Modulus
- A measure of a material's stiffness, describing how much a sheet resists bending under a given force. Used in lab testing to compare aligner materials.
- Force Decay
- The gradual weakening of an aligner's grip on the teeth over the course of a wear cycle, as the plastic relaxes. Multi-layer materials are often engineered to slow this process.
- Intraoral Scanner
- A handheld device used to capture a digital 3D impression of a patient's teeth, replacing physical impression material as the starting record for aligner treatment planning.
- IPR (Interproximal Reduction)
- The controlled removal of a small amount of enamel between two teeth to create space for alignment, used as an alternative or supplement to expansion or extraction.
- ISO 13485
- An international standard specifying requirements for a quality management system for organizations that design, produce, or service medical devices, widely required of aligner manufacturers. Read the full explainer →
- Malocclusion
- Any misalignment of the teeth or incorrect relationship between the upper and lower dental arches when they come together.
- MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency)
- The regulatory body responsible for medical device and medicine safety in the United Kingdom.
- MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
- The smallest quantity or volume a supplier requires a customer to commit to per order or over a given period; a low or absent MOQ makes it easier to start with a single case.
- ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)
- A manufacturer that designs and builds a product (or a full clinical/production process) which a customer then sells under its own brand, typically with more input from the manufacturer's own design or clinical team than a pure OEM relationship.
- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
- In this context, a manufacturer that produces a product to a customer's own specifications, for the customer to brand and sell as their own.
- Overcorrection
- Intentionally planning tooth movement slightly beyond the final target position, to account for minor relapse (teeth settling back) after active treatment ends.
- Private Label
- An arrangement where a manufacturing partner produces a product under a customer's own brand, typically with more input into materials or design specifics than a pure white label rebrand. Read the full explainer →
- Refinement
- A mid-treatment or end-of-treatment adjustment to the original aligner plan, based on new scans, to correct for teeth not tracking exactly as planned.
- Retainer
- A device worn after active aligner treatment to hold teeth in their new position; often made from the same or similar material family as the aligners themselves (such as Essix or Zendura).
- STL File
- A standard 3D file format used to represent a digital scan or model, most commonly the format intraoral scanners export for submission to a treatment planning team.
- Thermoforming
- The manufacturing process of heating a plastic sheet until pliable and forming it over a 3D-printed model of a treatment stage to produce a single clear aligner.
- Traceability
- The ability to trace a product's materials and production steps back through the manufacturing chain, typically to a specific batch or lot, required under quality standards like ISO 13485.
- Treatment Staging
- The process of dividing the full course of tooth movement into a sequence of discrete steps, each corresponding to one aligner in the series.
- TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration)
- The regulatory body responsible for medical device and medicine safety in Australia.
- White Label
- An arrangement where a manufacturing partner produces an existing, pre-designed product with minimal changes, which the customer rebrands and sells under its own name. Read the full explainer →
- Zendura Material
- A brand family of polyurethane-based sheet material from Bay Materials, used for clear aligners and retainers; Zendura FLX is a multi-layer variant engineered to reduce force decay. See the full material comparison →
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