Invisible Braces

Ceradyne, was a company that made advanced ceramics for defense, aerospace, electronics, and
industrial uses

It received assistance from the NASA Industrial Application CenterUniversity of Southern

California , a NASA-sponsered center that provided infromation and retreival services

Ceradyn . was looking for a material to be used in infrared radomes that track heat-seeking missiles.
The material that they found was translucent polycrystalline alumina (TPA)

At Ceradyne's request, University of Southern California conducted an extensive literature and

patent search to provide a technology base for Ceradyne production of TPA

in 1986, Unitek Corporation/3M contacted Ceradyne, looking for a transparent material strong
enough to be used in orthodontic treatment

Ceradyne suggested TPA and the two companies began development and clinical trials

Transcend Brackets were introduced in 1987 and production soared to 300,000 pieces a month¹.
According to its developers, this has made it the most successful orthodontic product introduction in
history¹.

These ceramic invisible braces are still available today

TRADUCTION

un centre parrainé par la NASA qui fournissait des services d'information et de récupération aux
clients de l'industrie :

était à la recherche d'un matériau à utiliser dans les radomes infrarougeS

 :Le matériau qu'ils ont trouvé était de l'alumine polycristalline translucide (TPA)

éffectué une recherche approfondie de littérature et de brevets afin de fournir une base
technologique pour la production de TPA¹ par Ceradyne :

à la recherche d'un matériau transparent suffisamment solide pour être utilisé dans un traitement
orthodontique :

clinical trials : essaie clinique