Clinic Edition – Chairside Planning, In-House Fabrication & Smart Collaboration
1. Purpose of This Cookbook
This cookbook provides a practical, step-by-step guide for dental clinics and orthodontic practices to implement a modern, efficient clear aligner workflow using the GuideMia ecosystem.
It is designed for clinics that:
Want chairside treatment planning and visualization in minutes
Wish to fabricate initial aligners in-house for immediate treatment
Need seamless collaboration with dental labs
Require secure, scalable case management across multiple treatment rooms
Want the flexibility to outsource design when internal capacity is limited
This edition specifically addresses the most common clinic concerns:
time, complexity, and the ability to handle real-world orthodontic cases.
2. Objectives
By following this cookbook, a clinic will be able to:
Visualize a clear aligner treatment plan in ~5 minutes
A chairside communication tool
A powerful marketing and case acceptance tool
Produce the first aligners in-house in approximately one hour
Same-day or next-visit aligners
Rapid prototyping before full production
Operate a flexible hybrid workflow
In-house design + in-house fabrication
In-house design + lab fabrication
Outsourced design + lab fabrication
Centralize all case data, communication, and sharing
Across treatment rooms
Between clinicians and labs
Between clinicians and external design services
3. GuideMia Software Ecosystem (Clinic Configuration)
This cookbook uses four GuideMia systems working together to cover the full clinic workflow—from chairside consultation to in-house fabrication and lab collaboration.
3.1 GuideMia OrthoClic – Chairside Planning & Visualization
Role: Fast, interactive orthodontic simulation at chairside.
Case opening and visualization in minutes
Immediate tooth movement preview
Patient-friendly animations and staging
Ideal for:
Initial consultation
Treatment explanation
Case acceptance
Value to Clinic:
Turns treatment planning into a communication and marketing tool
Improves case acceptance
Minimizes back-and-forth with labs at the consultation stage
3.2 GuideMia OrthoPlus – Full Aligner Treatment Planning & Design
Role: Comprehensive aligner planning, staging, and appliance design.
Automated and semi-automated tooth segmentation
Tooth setup tools (automatic + easy refinement)
Staging control and attachment design
Aligner output generation for:
Model-based thermoforming (print models → form → trim)
Direct 3D printing of aligners
Value to Clinic:
Enables complete in-house design
Supports both traditional and next-generation manufacturing workflows
Allows clinics to keep sensitive data internally if desired
3.3 GuideMia DentalCase – Case Management & 3D Viewer
Role: Central hub for internal and external case data.
Secure case organization
Built-in 3D viewer for STL/PLY/CBCT files
Workflow tracking and status visibility
Role-based access (doctors, staff, labs)
Patient communication: share interactive 3D treatment plans with patients via secure web links (no software installation required)
Value to Clinic:
Eliminates email, USB drives, and scattered cloud folders
Creates a single source of truth for every case
Enables seamless collaboration with labs and design partners
Improves patient understanding and acceptance by letting patients review the 3D plan remotely through web links
3.4 gTok – Lightweight 3D Data Sharing
Role: Fast and secure sharing of large 3D datasets.
Share models, plans, and revisions without full system access
Ideal for:
Quick lab review
Peer consultation
Patient education (when appropriate)
Value to Clinic:
Frictionless data exchange
No complex IT setup
Works alongside DentalCase for ad-hoc sharing
4. Addressing the Core Pain Points for Clinics
Efficiency Meets Capability
Clinics hesitate to bring aligner workflows in-house because of four perceived bottlenecks:
scan cleanup, tooth setup, staging/attachments, and complex cases.
GuideMia directly eliminates these barriers.
4.1 Scan Data Processing & Fixing
Pain Point:
Intraoral scans are often messy—holes, overlaps, artifacts, distorted gingiva, or incomplete areas.
Traditional cleanup is time-consuming, intimidating, and error-prone.
GuideMia Solution: All-in-One Scan Fix + AI Segmentation
Automatic mesh repair:
Hole filling
Noise removal
Surface smoothing without distortion
Intelligent handling of common scanner artifacts
AI-based tooth segmentation
Fast, consistent, and clinically reliable
Handles difficult morphology and crowding
Fully integrated into OrthoClic and OrthoPlus
Result for Clinics:
What used to take significant manual labor becomes a one-click workflow, allowing doctors and staff to focus on treatment, not data repair.
4.2 Tooth Setup: Automatic with Minor Manual Adjustment
Pain Point:
Traditional tooth setup is perceived as highly technical and time-consuming, often requiring expert designers.
GuideMia Solution: Smart Automation with Simple Refinement
Automatic initial tooth positioning based on:
Occlusal relationships
Arch form
Treatment objectives
Intuitive manual refinement tools:
Small, precise adjustments when clinically needed
Real-time visual feedback
Designed for clinicians, not CAD engineers
Result for Clinics:
Tooth setup becomes fast, predictable, and easy—automatic for most cases, with only minor refinement required.
4.3 Staging & Attachment Design: Fully Automated
Pain Point:
Staging logic and attachment placement are often considered complex, technical, and risky to perform in-house.
GuideMia Solution: One-Click Automation
Automatic staging generation:
Intelligent movement distribution
Built-in safety thresholds
Automatic attachment design:
Shape, size, and placement optimized per movement
Clinician retains final control:
Review and approve
Adjust if desired
Result for Clinics:
No manual staging spreadsheets. No trial-and-error attachments.
The system handles the engineering while the clinician focuses on clinical intent.
4.4 Advanced Orthodontic Scenarios
Pain Point:
Many clinics believe in-house systems only work for “simple aligner cases” and fail in real-world orthodontics.
GuideMia Solution: Comprehensive Clinical Capability
GuideMia OrthoPlus supports:
Tooth extraction cases
Space closure
Controlled movement strategies
Implant-assisted orthodontics
Integration with conventional implants
Miniscrews (TADs) for anchorage
Occlusal corrections
Bite opening / occlusion jumps
Vertical and sagittal corrections
Complex staging strategies
Multi-phase treatment planning
Hybrid aligner + auxiliary mechanics
Result for Clinics:
GuideMia is not limited to cosmetic alignment—it supports true orthodontic treatment planning for both routine and advanced cases.
4.5 Automatic Model & Aligner Generation (No Post-Processing)
Pain Point:
Clinics worry that even after planning, preparing printable models or direct-print aligners still requires time-consuming CAD cleanup and manual adjustments.
GuideMia Solution: Fully Automated Model & Aligner Design
All dental arch models for thermoforming are generated automatically from the approved treatment plan
All direct-print aligner models are produced automatically based on staging and attachment logic
Geometry is optimized for fabrication accuracy and clinical fit
No manual post-processing, editing, or mesh repair is required
Result for Clinics:
From treatment plan to fabrication-ready files is a single, automated step, eliminating additional design labor and enabling truly rapid in-house production.
5. Workflow: From Scan to Design Files
This section covers the complete clinical workflow—from data acquisition to fabrication-ready outputs—without manual handoffs or rework.
5.1 Data Input
Local scanner folder: GuideMia automatically detects new scans
Cloud scanner folder (e.g., Dropbox): Real-time access across devices
No manual file handling. No data confusion.
5.2 Chairside Planning (OrthoClic)
Load scan (auto-detected)
Automatic scan fixing & AI segmentation
Automatic tooth setup
Real-time simulation of treatment stages
Patient-friendly 3D visualization
Outcome:
A professional, interactive treatment presentation in ~5 minutes, improving communication and case acceptance.
5.3 Plan Refinement (OrthoPlus)
Import the approved chairside plan into OrthoPlus
Fine-tune tooth positions with intuitive controls when needed
Adjust clinical objectives at any time during the treatment course
Key Advantage:
Treatment plans can be easily modified at any stage of treatment, enabling mid-course corrections without restarting the workflow.
5.4 Automatic Staging & Attachments
One-click automatic staging generation
Intelligent movement distribution with built-in safety limits
Automatic attachment design optimized for each movement
Result:
No manual staging spreadsheets. No trial-and-error attachment placement.
5.5 Model & Aligner Design and Output
Automatic design of dental arch models for thermoforming
Automatic generation of direct-print aligner geometry
Fabrication-ready files created directly from the treatment plan
No manual post-processing required
Operational Flexibility:
Models or aligners can be exported for any treatment step as needed (early stages, mid-treatment adjustments, or final refinement)
Treatment files can be regenerated at any time if the plan is updated
Retainers can be designed automatically after treatment completion, using the final tooth positions
6. Multi-Room Clinic Configuration
Multi-Room Clinic Configuration
6.1 OrthoClic in Every Room + Central OrthoPlus
Chairside consultation in each operatory
Centralized design and production
Data synchronized via DentalCase
6.2 Shared OrthoPlus Across Network
Multi-user access
Role-based permissions
Scales from single clinic to multi-location practices
7. Communication & Collaboration
7.1 Internal Workflow – DentalCase
Secure case repository
Built-in 3D viewer
Doctor, staff, and technicians aligned on one platform
7.2 External Labs – DentalCase or gTok
Direct sharing of:
Scans
Treatment plans
STL/PLY models
Version control and fast turnaround
8. Outsourcing When Needed
If internal workload is high:
clearaligner.ai
lab.clearaligner.ai
Design can be outsourced seamlessly, while the clinic retains control of fabrication or lab production.
9. Fabrication Options
9.1 Model-Based Thermoforming
Design → Print Models → Thermoform → Trim
9.2 Direct 3D Printing of Aligners
Design → Print Aligners → Post-Process
9.3 GuideMia Equipment Consulting
Printer selection, materials, and workflow optimization.
10. Example: “Aligners in One Hour”
Scan patient
Automatic fix + AI segmentation
Automatic setup, staging, and attachments
Review plan chairside
Print first-stage models or aligners
Deliver same day or next visit
A capability clinics never had before.
11. Summary
GuideMia transforms clear aligner production for clinics by removing the traditional bottlenecks:
Scan fixing: All-in-one automated repair
Segmentation: AI-based, fast, and reliable
Tooth setup: Automatic with simple refinement
Staging & attachments: Fully automated
Advanced orthodontics: Extractions, implants, miniscrews, occlusion jumps fully supported
Clinics gain:
Chairside visualization in minutes
In-house aligners in about an hour
Scalable collaboration with labs and design services
A future-proof orthodontic platform
