Case study

Smilelign & S4S

Intro and application:

Smilelign and S4S are major players in the dental aligner industry here in the UK. Like many, 3D printing has become the go-to technology for their production of aligner models – but until recently, it hasn’t always been a straightforward process.

Challenge & solution:

After their production began to suffer due to frequent print failures with various 3D printing machines, they were forced to look carefully at the market with the goal of finding a solution to the problems. It didn’t take them long to discover that Photocentric’s unique LCD technology in the LC Magna may provide the answers they were looking for.

Technical Director at S4S and Smilelign, Matt Everatt was immediately intrigued by the speed and mass manufacturing potential of the LC Magna. “We simply had to have a look because the numbers almost seemed too good to be true”.

After investing in not just one, but two LC Magna machines, it became clear that the rapid print speed and ability to fit up to 48 aligner models on each platform were not the only benefits on offer. Reliable prints are key in an industry that requires rapid turn arounds on products, and the LC Magna’s are delivering unquestionable results.

These impressive results are now allowing Smilelign to design and print hundreds of models a day, and in most cases, mean that they can ship products to customers the very next day. Their confidence in the technology has even meant that they have reorganised their entire production office to tailor their workflow specifically around 3D printing dental aligner models on the LC Magna.