Lingual Orthodontics simplified: Incognito-customization perfected

Abstract

Esthetic orthodontics is the need of the hour, fuelled by the increasing number of adult patients seeking orthodontic treatment. Alternatives to labial appliance include clear aligners and lingual appliance. Conventional lingual treatment is laborious in terms of laboratory setup and manual dexterity of the operator, coupled with less than optimum treatment results. Customization of the appliance to meet varied requirements of each patient due to highly variable lingual morphology within and amongst patients is the key to successful treatment in lingual orthodontics. Efforts at bracket base customization using intra-oral jigs and laboratory setups are fraught with unavoidable errors affecting treatment outcome. With the advent of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology the Eldorado of true customization is now a reality. This paper introduces the Incognito Appliance System based on custom-made brackets and custom-made series of pre-bent wires using state of art CAD/CAM manufacturing procedures.