LightForce Orthodontics Closes $14 Million Series B Round Led by Tyche Partners to Bring Customizable 3D-Printed Brackets to Orthodontic Practices and Patients

LightForce Orthodontics, makers of the world’s first and only fully customizable 3D-printed bracket system, today announced it raised a $14 million Series B round led by Tyche Partners with follow-on investment from Matrix Partners and AM Ventures. LightForce enables orthodontists to utilize its 3D-printing technology to create custom braces for each individual patient, significantly reducing the number of adjustment visits needed. In light of the ongoing pandemic, technology that reduces in-person dental visits is crucial not only to patients, but also to the orthodontists and their teams caring for them. LightForce will use the new funds to further develop its technology and product offerings, as well as to scale operations to meet the recent surge in demand for more efficient dental technologies.

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LightForce enables orthodontists to utilize its 3D-printing technology to create custom braces for each individual patient, significantly reducing the number of adjustment visits needed. (Photo: Business Wire)

Weiji Yun, Managing Partner at Tyche Partners, said: “We’re always looking for visionary entrepreneurs utilizing the latest cutting-edge technologies to transform and revolutionize industries. Alfred and Lou’s inspirational vision offered us an opportunity to expand our 3D-printing investment portfolio and the company’s rapid growth is proof that the industry is primed for a solution that improves the orthodontic experience for patients and doctors alike. We are pleased to partner with such an impressive team of doctors and engineers and contribute to LightForce’s success.”

While everyone’s face, jaws and teeth are unique to them, today a vast majority of orthodontic cases are treated with the same “one-size-fits-all” braces that have been used for decades. LightForce’s platform enables mass-customization to better treat each individual patient through a highly integrated platform that helps orthodontists determine the best treatment plans and create each patient’s unique bracket system.

Orthodontists who treat patients with LightForce technology begin the process by sending LightForce technicians a scan of the patient’s teeth and their treatment plan. The LightForce team then creates the fully-customized brackets and trays and sends it directly to the practice for the orthodontist to efficiently bond to the patient’s teeth via trays. LightForce technology uses ceramic material virtually identical to familiar injection molded brackets, but is specially formulated for 3D-printing. The technology elevates the standard for precision and efficiency for today’s orthodontic appliances, while also offering patients a new esthetic option.

LightForce CEO and co-founder Dr. Alfred Griffin III, DMD, PhD, MMSc, said: “Braces haven’t changed in fifty years yet are by far the most common treatment tool; aligners are esthetic and patient-specific, but because of patient compliance and biomechanical limitations, they only serve a small fraction of our patients today. This opportunity to help patients and orthodontists was why we applied modern 3D software and ‘mass-customization’ to what we know today as ‘braces.’ We’ve seen LightForce provide shorter treatment times, fewer appointments, and an overall more efficient experience for patients and doctors. In the last year our business has doubled every quarter, and that tells me that LightForce has pinpointed a true need within the orthodontic space. We look forward to growing with our investors, partners and the orthodontic community to provide the best experience and outcomes for our patients.”

LightForce customer and renowned pioneer in digital orthodontics, Dr. Mazyar Moshiri, DMD, MS, said: “From the initial patient scan to devising a custom treatment plan, LightForce’s platform allows our practice to scale predictably, while improving outcomes for our patients. With LightForce’s technology, we are able to offer fully customized, fixed appliances for each individual’s specific needs in order to provide the best treatment option for every patient.”

LightForce offers a variety of products to fit the individual needs of each patient, including:

• LightPlan (Treatment Software by LightForce): With complete control of every aspect of the treatment plan and a simple cloud-based interface for adjustments and approvals, the proprietary LightForce software system empowers the clinician every step of the way.
• Cloud Brackets (Braces by LightForce): LightForce’s Cloud brackets are white, patient-specific 3D-printed ceramic polycrystalline alumina brackets.
• LightTray (Indirect Bonding Trays by LightForce): The LightTray is a patient-specific indirect bonding (IDB) tray 3D printed from a proprietary material. The tray design is the result of seven 3D algorithms unique to LightForce that are all intended to optimize the clinical user experience and bonding accuracy.
• TurboTrays (Bite Turbos by LightForce): LightForce TurboTrays are 3D printed to aid in the patient’s bite correction.

For more information about these products, please visit the product page at https://lightforceortho.com/. Orthodontists interested in adding LightForce’s technology to their practice should reach out here. For photos and videos, click here.

About LightForce Orthodontics

LightForce Orthodontics is a digital platform providing orthodontists with fully customized, 3D printed tooth-moving tools. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Alfred Griffin, DMD, PhD, MMSc along with Dr. Lou Shuman, DMD, LightForce is revolutionizing the specialty through advanced manufacturing and technology. After five years of extensive research and development, LightForce launched their first product to the Orthodontic market - the world’s first, and only, fully customized 3D printed bracket system and digital treatment software. Learn more at www.lightforceortho.com.

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