Aligner-CAD-outsourcing

Aligner CAD design is one of the fastest-growing case types for labs and clinics expanding their service line, and it is also one of the most time-intensive to plan properly. We handle treatment staging, tooth movement planning, attachment placement and aligner shell design so you can offer aligners without building an orthodontic design team from scratch.

Why aligner CAD design gets outsourced

Staging a full course of clear aligner treatment takes real orthodontic judgment — how much movement per stage, where attachments go, how much interproximal reduction the case can tolerate. That expertise is expensive to build in-house for a case type that might only be a fraction of your total volume. Outsourcing aligner CAD design gets you that judgment on every case without carrying a dedicated orthodontic designer on payroll.

We stage treatment in exocad and 3Shape Appliance Designer across simple relapse cases through comprehensive, multi-stage treatment, so the case complexity you send doesn't change the turnaround reliability.

What's included in every aligner CAD design case

Every case returns a staged tooth-movement plan for your approval, an aligner shell STL for each stage, and an attachment placement design — all planned against your prescribed IPR limits, arch expansion goals and attachment preferences. If you send an approved digital smile design or wax-up, we stage the aligner treatment to reach that specific end position rather than a generic default.

Attachment shape, placement and interproximal reduction are planned as part of the staging itself, not as a separate pass, so the final shell design and the movement plan stay consistent from stage one through the last stage of treatment.

Quality control and turnaround

Movement limits per stage, attachment shape and placement, IPR planning against your prescription, and aligner shell thickness and trim line are all checked before a staging plan is marked ready for your review. Standard turnaround is 24 to 48 hours for a complete staging plan, with individual stage revisions turning around faster once the initial plan is approved.

Staging revisions are unlimited until you approve the treatment plan — getting the movement sequence right matters more than limiting how many rounds of feedback a case can take.

Getting started

If your case starts with a diagnostic wax-up or smile design mock-up before staging begins, our digital wax-up service pairs naturally with aligner planning. For the rest of what we design, see the full services overview.

Most practices send a single trial case first — typically a straightforward relapse or minor crowding case — to evaluate staging quality and turnaround before routing regular aligner volume through the portal. That evaluation period applies whether you expect to send two cases a month or twenty, since the review process itself doesn't change with volume.

Clinics that already run intraoral scanners in-house often find aligner CAD design is the easiest new service line to add, since the scan workflow is identical to what they use for other digital cases — only the prescription and staging goals change.

Send your first set of arch scans and a bite registration through the client portal today, along with your treatment goals, and a technician who stages aligner cases daily will have a plan back for your review within the standard window.