The Revolutionary Dental Material-IPN Film

Driven by the spirit of “keep improving, pioneering, and innovating”, Clickalign has been making breakthroughs in various aspects. Through ceaseless effort, Clickalign has become one of the fastest-growing clear aligner brands with its self-developed 3-layer IPN film, the first NMPA-certified dental material in China.

What is IPN film?

According to the application needs of clear aligners and the biomechanical expression needs of orthodontic treatment, through rigorous selection of raw materials, creative adjustment of the proportion of components, and optimization of processing technics, Clickalign successfully developed the IPN (Interpenetrating Polymer Network) film, whose hardness/softness is adaptive to various cases. The TPU dental material consists of 3 layers, each of which has different properties, making for the desired balance between the resilience required for easy insertion and take-off and the rigidity needed for persistent force expression.

Why should you choose IPN film?

The majority of films circulating in the orthodontic market are either single-layer or double-layer. However, it has been proved by various experiments that the 3-layer clear aligners are better than the single-layer and double-layer clear aligners in tooth movement, stress distribution of periodontal ligament, and mechanical loading of alveolar bone while bearing significantly fewer side effects than those of the other two types. In short, the 3-layer structure distinguishes IPN film from other dental materials in the following aspects:

• Lighter and thinner

After forming, the thinnest part of IPN film could be as thin as 0.3mm, greatly improving patients’ wearing experience.

• Higher resilience

The TPU material’s unique structure allows for greater versatility and higher resilience, thus enabling IPN to meet the appropriate rigidity and flexibility for tooth movement and apply force in a more precise and efficient manner.

• More durable and stable

Slow stress relaxation after elastic deformation makes IPN film more durable and stable than other films, which helps guarantee the ideal force expression and treatment results.

• Stronger tear resilience

Besides greater versatility and resilience, the TPU material also has strong resistance to tears, abrasions, weather, and hydrocarbons, which means it is much more difficult to be torn after forming.

• Better fitting

The real curvature detection ensures accurate fitting to various tooth shapes. The unique surface adaptability and good thermoplasticity significantly improve the cavity covering performance, which is better for force expression.

What contributes to the advantages of IPN film? 

Our IPN film works better than traditional ones in its ability to reach the ideal balance between the high resilience needed for easy insertion and take-off and the hardness required for constant force release. Such capacity is mainly credited to its 3-layer structure and the TPU material.

• TPU’s typical properties

High elongation and tensile strength;

Excellent abrasion resistance;

Low-temperature performance;

Excellent mechanical properties, combined with a rubber-like elasticity;

High transparency;

Good oil and grease resistance;

• TPU’s advantages over PETG

Compared with general materials such as PETG, our clear aligner material, TPU, can provide better and longer orthodontic force with better strength, flexibility, and durability, and also be comfortable to wear through our special structure design and multi-layer technology.

As a leading manufacturer of clear aligner in China for nearly a decade, Clickalign has been specializing in providing reliable solutions for invisible orthodontic treatment. The aforementioned improvements are sure to ensure our patients with effective treatment and comfortable wearing experience so that they can laugh confidently and beautifully with much less pain and embarrassment.