Our patent-pending GT FLEX ® GREEN materials are 100% free from traditional, petroleum-based plastics. They include a combination of 100% plant-based, bio-based, and other naturally-occurring components. They’re engineered for dental applications like retainers, aligners, and night guards. And they’re formulated specifically to help address concerns about toxicity and microplastics.
What is Plastic?
In material science, a “plastic” is simply something made of repeated molecules that can be heated to form a new shape and then cooled to retain that shape.
That’s a really useful feature! And it’s essential for making custom dental devices like aligners and retainers.
So what’s the problem?
The Trouble with Traditional Plastic
There’s nothing concerning in the basic definition of “plastic”. But the specific chemistry used to make traditional plastic has created two growing areas of concern:
- Potential Toxicity
- Long-Lasting Microplastics
Traditional plastic is a petroleum-derived material. Petroleum itself contains a number of nasty chemicals. And some of the helper chemicals (called “plasticizers”) used to make traditional plastic can also be problematic (that BPA you’re hoping is not in your water bottle is one such plasticizer).
Traditional plastic lasts a really long time. Durability is actually one of the core benefits of traditional plastic. But as plastic use has exploded, this blessing has become an environmental curse. Moreover, it means that when traditional plastic breaks down into small pieces (microplastics), those pieces can linger wherever they may end up – including in tissues throughout the body.
The Promise of Plant-Based Alternatives
Starting with plant-based and/or other natural source materials instead of petroleum sounds like a great way to address the problems with traditional plastic. These types of ingredients bring the promise of:
- Lower Toxicity Concerns
- Faster Degradation (Fewer Lingering Microplastics)
But you have to be careful…
Simply Being “Plant-Based” is Not Enough
Unfortunately, the terms “plant-based” and “bio-based” have already started to go the way of “organic”. They’re becoming marketing terms that can be meaningless unless you know what more to ask. For example:
Is the material 100% free from traditional plastic?
Many “plant-based” and “bio-based” plastic alternatives actually contain a portion – sometimes a majority – of petroleum-based traditional plastic to make them work. These materials may be called “plant-based”, but you’re basically still dealing with traditional plastic.
Was the material tested for toxicity?
Even if the material is plant- or bio-based, it’s still possible for toxic components to find their way into the end product (e.g., from a petroleum-based fertilizer used at the farm). The final material needs to be well tested for potential, unexpected toxicity.
Was the material tested for degradability?
If you’re not careful with your chemistry, you can start with plant- or bio-based ingredients and still end up making a plastic material that lasts for decades or centuries without degrading. Congrats, you just made plant-based microplastics…
Like you, when we see “plant-based” we want it to mean all of the awesome things it should mean, without asterisks.
Here’s the good news…
GT FLEX ® GREEN Is Designed to Deliver on the Promise
When we developed our plant-based GT FLEX ® GREEN material, we set out to ensure it would be:
- 100% free from traditional plastic
- Tested for safe, non-toxic use in the mouth
- Tested for biodegradability
GT FLEX ® GREEN is the first material in the world that is 100% free from traditional plastic and engineered for use in dental devices like aligners, retainers, and night guards.
It has passed every safety and biodegradability test that we’ve subjected it to so far – a list that already includes even more testing than is required of traditional plastic materials used for the same types of dental devices.
Looking for more details about the testing and validation we’ve done so far? Check out this more technical description of GT FLEX ® GREEN.
And we aren’t stopping there, neither in our testing nor in our development of new ways to use GT FLEX ® GREEN to help those of you who want to avoid traditional plastics.
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