Digital Indirect Bonding in Hershey, PA
Reviewed by Dr. Susan Korch, DMD, MS
Digital indirect bonding places all of your braces at once, using a custom tray made from a 3D scan of your teeth. Your orthodontist plans each bracket position on screen first, instead of positioning them by hand in your mouth. The result is more consistent placement and a much shorter bonding appointment.
The day your braces go on is usually the longest appointment of your treatment. Traditionally, the orthodontist places each bracket individually, by eye, while you hold still.
We do it differently. Dr. Susan Korch plans the exact position of every bracket on a 3D model of your teeth before you arrive. A custom tray is made from that plan, and your brackets go on together, in one step.
That matters for two reasons. You spend far less time in the chair. And every bracket starts in the position the plan called for, which is where accurate tooth movement begins.
What Is Indirect Bonding?
“Direct” bonding means brackets are placed straight onto your teeth, one at a time, during the appointment. “Indirect” bonding means they are fabricated elsewhere first, then transferred onto your teeth as a set.
Indirect bonding is not new. What is new is doing the planning digitally.
Older indirect bonding started with a physical impression, the putty mold most people remember. A lab built a stone model, a technician placed the brackets on it by hand, and a tray carried them across. It was more accurate than direct bonding, but it depended on the quality of the impression and the technician’s eye.
Digital indirect bonding removes both of those variables.
How It Works
1. A digital scan. We scan your teeth with an iTero® scanner. No putty, no gagging, no impression to reject and redo.
2. Planning on screen. Your scan becomes a 3D model. Dr. Korch positions each bracket on that model and reviews how your teeth will move from those positions. Software checks the placement against the treatment plan and flags anything inconsistent, but the clinical decisions are hers.
3. A custom tray. We 3D-print a transfer tray that holds each bracket in its intended position. Korch Orthodontics prints these in our own office, so there is no waiting on an outside lab.
4. Bonding. The tray seats onto your teeth, and the brackets bond in place together. Then the tray comes off.
The system we use for this is called DIBS AI.
What It Means for Your Treatment
- A shorter bonding appointment. This is the clearest and most immediate difference.
- More consistent bracket position. Placement follows the plan rather than being judged in a mouth that is hard to see into.
- Fewer adjustments to correct placement. When brackets start where they were meant to, less mid-treatment repositioning is needed.
- More predictable movement. Accurate starting positions make the planned outcome likelier.
- A more comfortable visit. Less time with instruments in your mouth.
Treatment length depends mostly on your case, not on your bonding method, so we cannot promise a faster finish. What we can say is that precise placement removes one of the things that commonly slows treatment down.
This Is Not the Same as "3D Printed Braces"
These two get confused constantly, including in search results, so it is worth being precise.
We 3D print the tray. We do not 3D print the brackets.
Some systems, sold under other brand names, manufacture custom brackets for each patient. That is a different product with different tradeoffs and a different price. Digital indirect bonding uses standard, well-proven brackets and applies the digital precision to where they go.
If you have read about custom printed brackets and are wondering whether this is the same thing, it is not. Ask us at your consultation, and we will explain the difference for your case.
See It for Yourself
If you are considering braces, ask to see the bracket plan for your own teeth at your consultation. It is the clearest way to understand what this technology actually does.
Your first exam is free. Call (717) 533-7400 or request an appointment.
