This article is sponsored content brought to you by Solventum.
When choosing an attachment material for use with clear tray aligners (CTAs), doctors are often faced with deciding between a flowable or paste composite. Flowable composites offer easy dispensing and quick tray filling, but they are believed to suffer from lessened wear resistance, worse staining, lower bond strength and the presence of bubbles created during dispensing. Pastes, on the other hand, can take longer to apply and pack, but they are believed to have more robust physical properties and can be used to fill trays ahead of time without fear of the material flowing out of place.
Solventum’s Clarity™ Attachment Material was developed to eliminate the compromise between ease of use and clinical strength. Leveraging decades of materials science, Solventum has designed a flowable that performs like a paste supporting more predictable outcomes in orthodontic aligner therapy.
Paste-Like Strength for Reliable Tooth Movement
Attachment durability directly influences treatment efficiency, as even subtle changes in shape can alter force delivery. In 3-body wear testing, Clarity™ Attachment Material demonstrated wear resistance equivalent to a leading paste composite and stronger performance than several established flowables. This helps ensure attachments maintain their geometry over the course of treatment, contributing to consistent and controlled biomechanics.
Bond strength is also critical, yet long-held assumptions about paste superiority do not fully apply to aligner attachments. ISO 29022 shear bond strength testing showed that Clarity™ Attachment Material delivers bond strength on par with paste adhesives. Importantly, failures occurred at the tooth–primer interface rather than within the attachment material itself, reinforcing that clinicians do not sacrifice bond reliability when choosing a flowable.
Predictable Handling and Prefill Confidence
Traditional flowables can slump under gravity, making prefilled trays challenging. Clarity™ Attachment Material was engineered with a rheological profile that allows it to flow smoothly into trays and then quickly return to a paste-like state. In testing, the material showed no movement on vertical surfaces even after seven days, behaviour typically associated with paste composites. This stability allows clinicians to prefill trays in advance, increasing efficiency without compromising attachment accuracy.
Aesthetic Performance Through Superior Stain Resistance
Because aligner patients prioritise aesthetics, the longevity of attachment appearance matters. Clarity™ Attachment Material demonstrated outstanding resistance to staining from coffee and red wine, outperforming both pastes and other flowables tested. While pastes contain higher filler loads, stain susceptibility originates in the resin component, and Clarity™ Attachment Material resin matrix is engineered for enhanced stain resistance. This helps attachments remain discreet throughout treatment.
A Bubble-Free, Mess-Free Delivery System
A major drawback of many flowables is the presence of air bubbles during dispensing. Solventum’s patented bubble-free syringe technology addresses this issue directly. X-ray imaging shows that competitor syringes contain visible air pockets, while Clarity™ Attachment Material syringes consistently provide void-free material. The syringe also eliminates “run-on,” the unwanted oozing that often continues after dispensing.
Conclusion
Most clinicians agree: aligner therapy can only be effectively delivered with high-quality attachments. Defects, debonds and other challenges can derail even the best-laid treatment plans. With the launch of Clarity™ Attachment Material, Solventum has leveraged its 75-year legacy of material science and innovation to empower clinicians with durable, high-quality materials. By applying their proprietary syringe design to orthodontic bonding, they have created a flowable that makes it easier to reliably produce bubble-free, aesthetic attachments supporting more effective CTA treatments and superior patient satisfaction.
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