Impress plans to employ over 1000 people in the next several years for its own treatment planning and production facility. The company uses best-in-class technology and hardware to fully control treatment planning and the production cycle.
The production process begins in the clinic, where the digital scan of the patient's mouth is performed. From this scan, a simulation of the treatment is created, the files are processed to be printed in 3D and once the molds are obtained, they are thermoformed, trimmed, laser marked, and packed. All these processes are made with fully integrated hardware and software and run with full automatization. Impress has strategic partnerships with 3D printing technology company, Carbon, while also working with HP to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of its Multi Jet Fusion technology. Working with Carbon and HP allows the Spanish company to offer a new competitive advantage to the market: a more transparent aligner.
Vladimir Lupenko, CEO & co-founder of Impress, emphasizes that “from the very beginning we saw Impress as the disruptive player in the professional orthodontic market. We are proud to say that after these last few years we are the first company to create a fully digital orthodontic chain of a new generation with our IT technology, professional medical team, and our own clinics. Now, we have made the next very important strategic step with vertical integration. In-house treatment planning and our production facility will allow us to reduce turnaround and our patients will be able to start the treatment within just 5-7 days after the first visit.”
“We are proud to partner with Impress to enable them to deliver high quality aligners at scale,” says Andreas Tulaj, Vice President of European Sales at Carbon. “Carbon’s remotely monitored printers, automated software workflows, rapid print speeds, and solvent-less post-processing solutions have been important innovations for aligner manufacturers. Thanks to our differentiated process, Impress can maintain focus on creating exceptional patient experiences and outcomes.”
Impress is using HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 3D printing solution to carefully tailor the dental aligners molds to individual patient’s teeth and speed up the treatment process for their customers. Using HP’s platform enables on demand mass production of custom molds and reduces waste, all while shortening lead times.