Sep. 15, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGN) today introduced new and enhanced product features designed to provide improved results for everyday clinical demands, including extrusion and rotation of teeth, root movements, and interproximal reduction (IPR). The new features will help deliver the great outcomes doctors expect from Invisalign treatment.

"This continued evolution of our product line and our technology is based on extensive customer research and the treatment data and experience gained through more than one million Invisalign cases," said Sheila Tan, Align Technology's vice president, marketing and chief marketing officer. "We believe that these improvements will give doctors greater confidence in what they can achieve with Invisalign, and help deliver the outcomes doctors expect in more clinical applications."

The new product line features are designed to overcome barriers to treatment by addressing clinical issues that doctors have traditionally perceived as challenging in Invisalign treatment, such as extrusions and rotations, and by implementing improvements and best practices frequently requested by doctors:

    --  New Optimized Attachments for extrusions and rotations are now custom
designed to be patient-specific and tooth-specific to consistently
deliver the correct aligner forces to the teeth, helping to increase
predictability of the desired movement.
--  Power Ridges(TM), previously available only with Invisalign Teen(TM),
are used in place of attachments to provide additional force in cases
where certain types of movements, including lingual root torque, are
prescribed.
--  Velocity Optimization provides more controlled movements for the entire
tooth, including the root, and is designed to limit the speed of tooth
movements to optimal ranges.  Previously, doctors had to identify
movements that might require velocity adjustments and request those
changes as part of the treatment planning process. The velocity
adjustment will now be accounted for automatically in the case set-up.
--  Interproximal Reduction (IPR) Protocol Improvements address a frequent
doctor request regarding timing of IPR during treatment.