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An Inside Look at Invisalign G4 by Wm. Randol Womack, DDS, Board Certified Orthodontist Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine

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by Wm. Randol Womack, DDS, Board Certified Orthodontist Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine

Earlier this year, Invisalign released its G3, and now Orthotown Editorial Director Dr. Wm. Randol Womack gets the inside scoop on the new Invisalign G4 system from Invisalign’s Clinical Director Dr. Rene Sterental and Director of R&D John Morton.

Align Technology introduced Invisalign G4 in October. What are the goals of G4?
Morton: In recent years, a series of clinical innovations has been introduced to improve clinical outcomes with Invisalign. With Invisalign G4, the goals are to further improve predictability of tooth movements and to enable doctors to achieve even better clinical outcomes.

With our pace of innovation, it is an exciting time for Invisalign and Invisalign orthodontists. We are grateful to our doctors who have been sharing their clinical experiences using Invisalign and helping us identify areas for improvement. We are listening and dedicating substantial research and development resources to improve in these areas.

The doctors who have seen Invisalign G4 are very excited about the new innovations, as are we, and regarding this as a significant advancement in predictability of aligner treatment.

What are the clinical issues that Invisalign G4 addresses?
Sterental: Invisalign G4 addresses certain tooth movements that in the past have commonly been considered difficult to achieve with aligners. One feature in this release is designed for better mesio-distal root control of the canines and upper centrals. Some of the clinical applications are space closure, bodily movement, midline shift and mesio-distal uprighting.

A second feature addresses movement of the upper laterals. This new feature will address some of the most common multi-plane movements of the lateral, such as extrusion combined with crown tip and rotation.

A third feature is designed to control the extrusion of four upper incisors as one unit. The feature provides for better control and more efficient extrusion of the anterior teeth in the treatment of patients with anterior open bite.

We are confident that Invisalign G4 features, which address the predictability of tooth movement, will enhance the clinicians’ ability to achieve excellent treatment outcomes with the Invisalign system.

How do these features work and how do you go about designing them?
Morton: Once again we have leveraged our SmartForce process to customize the aligner features and attachments to address specific clinical issues. Fundamental biomechanics lie at the heart of our SmartForce design process and features. It is well accepted in orthodontics that if the force system produced by the appliance is correct for the movement, then the probability of achieving the movement is greater. This is the basic biomechanical principle in orthodontics and the principle that guides our development.

Our goal is to design the aligner and the attachments such that the force system produced is favorable to the actual movement of the tooth during treatment. Other factors such as initiation of biological response and delay of tooth movement are also considered in the designs, as would be expected of any good biomechanical design.

The SmartForce design process is a two-step design approach, which leverages advanced technologies. We first use virtual modeling software that is capable of evaluating a large number of design options. This software helps us efficiently identify the options that show the greatest potential for producing the correct force systems for a particular movement. For the high potential designs, we proceed to physically measure the forces imparted to the teeth by the aligner/attachment system using state-of-the-art force measurement equipment developed by Align. This is an iterative process and allows us to quickly identify the solutions that will produce the correct force system as defined in the orthodontic literature. Aligner and attachment designs that pass this phase of testing may then undergo clinical testing.

What is ahead for Invisalign?
Morton: Our aim is to continue to innovate and improve the predictability and clinical scope of the Invisalign System. Considerable progress has been made toward this goal with the series of clinical innovations introduced in the past few years, but more remains to be done.

The SmartForce process has proven to be a powerful tool in designing Invisalign features that improve predictability of tooth movement. We are excited about its potential and the many ways in which this streamlined iterative approach to design can quickly improve treatment outcomes. We will continue to leverage the SmartForce process, biomechanics and engineering to improve the predictability of Invisalign. We will continue to use this technology to address treatment decisions such as retention requirements and movements of units or segments of teeth, as well as to address individual tooth movements that remain challenging.

We share the goal of the profession: to achieve an excellent treatment outcome for each patient and we are committed to continuous clinical innovation as the means to attain this common goal.
Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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