Choosing the Right Material

The team behind GT Smiles has been developing specialty materials for dentistry for decades. We built on years of research and experience in material safety and functionality to produce our GT FLEX ® family of materials for aligners, retainers, and similar devices – including our latest, plant-based option: GT FLEX ® GREEN.

GT FLEX ® Specialty Materials for Dentistry

Our GT FLEX ® family of materials – including PRO, MAX, and GREEN – are engineered specifically for use in dental devices like retainers, aligners, night guards, and oral appliances for sleep apnea.

Traditional Plastic Options

GT FLEX ® PRO and GT FLEX ® MAX are traditional plastic options that have been proven through years of use by hundreds of thousands of patients and dentists worldwide.

Plant-Based Plastic Alternatives

GT FLEX ® GREEN is our newer plant-based plastic alternative, custom-engineered for specific dental applications and designed to help address growing concerns with traditional plastics.

We’re working to add GT FLEX ® GREEN as an option for every GT Smiles device.

So if it’s a GT Smiles device and you don’t see GT FLEX ® GREEN as an option quite yet, stay tuned – we’re working on it!

GT FLEX ® PRO	GT FLEX ® MAX	GT FLEX ® GREEN
Traditional Plastic	Traditional Plastic	Plant-Based Material
Clear	Clear	Pearly White
Long history of use by thousands of patients; trusted and reliable	Our thinnest material option; designed for added comfort	100% free from traditional plastics; for anyone looking for plant-based alternatives

Wait, what? Did you say GT FLEX ® PRO and MAX are traditional plastic?

In (Diminishing) Defense of Traditional Plastic

We know. It seems a weird stance for us. So let’s be clear…

GT Smiles is on a mission to help dentistry move away from traditional plastic toward healthier, more eco-friendly alternatives.

But we are not here to say that traditional plastic is inherently evil. In many ways, traditional plastic has been positive for humanity. Significant advancements in healthcare and dental technologies emerged from advancements in plastic science. And the low-cost, durable nature of traditional plastic helped increase access to those advancements.

Nor are we here to say that traditional plastic used in dentistry is obviously unsafe. Provided it comes from reputable sources, the traditional plastic currently used in dentistry has been tested for safety and used without obvious harmful effects for decades.

It’s just that too much of a good thing is proving to be a very bad thing with traditional plastic. The environmental downsides are obvious and the health concerns are growing.

We developed our plant-based GT FLEX ® GREEN material to address these growing concerns and provide an alternative for anyone looking to move away from traditional plastic.

In summary, while we stand by our traditional plastic materials as reasonable options (for now), we are focused on further developing and supporting GT FLEX ® GREEN as the better choice for the future.

So How Do I Choose the Right Material?

They’re all reasonable options. If the material is listed as an option for the device you need, it means we stand behind it 100%. It means it’s been tested by us and by independent third parties for safety and functionality.

If you are personally not concerned about traditional plastics, GT FLEX ® PRO and GT FLEX ® MAX are both great:

• GT FLEX ® PRO is usually the more economical option, and
• GT FLEX ® MAX wins points for added comfort.

If you are looking to move away from traditional plastics, for example if:

• You are allergic to traditional plastic (you’re not alone),
• You are concerned about potential toxicity or microplastics from traditional plastic, or
• You are concerned about the environmental impact of traditional plastic,

Then GT FLEX ® GREEN is the choice for you.