Technology is only useful when it improves what a patient experiences or what an orthodontist can see. At Bold Bite Orthodontics in Jacksonville, every clinical tool was chosen to reduce diagnostic guesswork, cut visits, or shorten total treatment time — not for showroom effect. The imaging, scanning, printing, and monitoring stack is used on every patient, every day.
Dr. Trang Cao and Dr. Marty Greenberg trained on these diagnostic workflows at Boston University School of Dental Medicine and Jacksonville University, and they run the practice the way they would want an office to run for their own children. That standard starts with what the scans show before treatment begins, and it continues through 3D-printed custom bands, Grin Scope check-ins between visits, and the indirect-bonding tray that makes a braces appointment shorter.
The rest of this page explains what each piece of equipment does, why it was chosen, and what it changes for the patient in the chair.
Dr. Trang Cao and Dr. Marty Greenberg trained on these diagnostic workflows at Boston University School of Dental Medicine and Jacksonville University, and they run the practice the way they would want an office to run for their own children. That standard starts with what the scans show before treatment begins, and it continues through 3D-printed custom bands, Grin Scope check-ins between visits, and the indirect-bonding tray that makes a braces appointment shorter.
The rest of this page explains what each piece of equipment does, why it was chosen, and what it changes for the patient in the chair.
3D Imaging & AI-Assisted Airway Screening
Vatech Green CT
Every new-patient exam at Bold Bite Orthodontics includes a Vatech Green CT scan when clinically indicated by the diagnosis. The Vatech Green CT is an ultra-low-dose cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanner that captures a full 3D volume of teeth, tooth roots, jaw bones, sinuses, airway, and head-and-neck anatomy in a single 14-second scan. CBCT imaging at this resolution exposes impacted teeth, root angulation, airway constriction, sinus involvement, and skeletal jaw discrepancies that a flat 2D panoramic X-ray cannot show. Patients under 18 receive the CBCT at no additional charge as part of their exam. Adults receive a CBCT only when it is clinically needed, and we tell them the cost first.
The ultra-low-dose protocol on the Green CT delivers a fraction of the radiation exposure of conventional CBCT systems, which is important for growing children who may need repeat imaging during Phase 1 or during multi-year comprehensive treatment.
Every Vatech CBCT at Bold Bite runs through AI-assisted airway analysis on the way into the record. The software segments the pharyngeal airway, reports narrowest cross-sectional area and total airway volume, and flags constriction for the doctor to review. Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty examine every AI-flagged scan together, correlate it with the clinical exam and sleep history, and explain findings in plain language during the consultation. When the scan and history suggest sleep-disordered breathing, Bold Bite coordinates a referral to a sleep medicine physician or ENT for formal diagnosis — the orthodontic office is the screener, not the diagnostician.
The AI airway workflow is not reserved for kids with obvious symptoms. Bold Bite screens every patient at every consultation, because many families do not know that snoring, mouth breathing, or restless sleep in a child can be driven by jaw or airway anatomy that orthodontic treatment can address.
The ultra-low-dose protocol on the Green CT delivers a fraction of the radiation exposure of conventional CBCT systems, which is important for growing children who may need repeat imaging during Phase 1 or during multi-year comprehensive treatment.
Every Vatech CBCT at Bold Bite runs through AI-assisted airway analysis on the way into the record. The software segments the pharyngeal airway, reports narrowest cross-sectional area and total airway volume, and flags constriction for the doctor to review. Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty examine every AI-flagged scan together, correlate it with the clinical exam and sleep history, and explain findings in plain language during the consultation. When the scan and history suggest sleep-disordered breathing, Bold Bite coordinates a referral to a sleep medicine physician or ENT for formal diagnosis — the orthodontic office is the screener, not the diagnostician.
The AI airway workflow is not reserved for kids with obvious symptoms. Bold Bite screens every patient at every consultation, because many families do not know that snoring, mouth breathing, or restless sleep in a child can be driven by jaw or airway anatomy that orthodontic treatment can address.
Digital Intraoral Scanning
iTero and Allied Star
Bold Bite replaces traditional impression trays and alginate putty with two digital intraoral scanners. The iTero scanner is the primary records tool — a wand-sized camera that captures a high-resolution 3D model of both arches in roughly 40 seconds with no trays, no putty, and no gag reflex. The scan is accurate to within about 10 microns and becomes the single source of truth for Invisalign setups, Angel Aligners treatment plans, braces planning, retainer printing, and custom appliance design. The Allied Star scanner is a wireless secondary system used for chairside rescans and follow-up records during active treatment.
A digital scan produces a file, not a physical model that has to be shipped to a lab. That changes the orthodontic workflow in three concrete ways. First, aligner treatment plans can be submitted to Invisalign or Angel Aligners the same day the scan is taken. Second, the scan transmits directly to the in-house 3D printer for retainers, custom bands, and indirect-bonding trays — eliminating the one-to-two-week round trip through an outside lab. Third, the 3D model is archived and reusable; if a retainer is lost a year later, a replacement can be printed from the original scan in most cases without asking the patient to come back in for another impression.
For patients who have had old-style goopy impressions before — which is most adult patients — the shift to a 40-second digital scan is one of the most noticeable day-one quality-of-life improvements Bold Bite offers.
A digital scan produces a file, not a physical model that has to be shipped to a lab. That changes the orthodontic workflow in three concrete ways. First, aligner treatment plans can be submitted to Invisalign or Angel Aligners the same day the scan is taken. Second, the scan transmits directly to the in-house 3D printer for retainers, custom bands, and indirect-bonding trays — eliminating the one-to-two-week round trip through an outside lab. Third, the 3D model is archived and reusable; if a retainer is lost a year later, a replacement can be printed from the original scan in most cases without asking the patient to come back in for another impression.
For patients who have had old-style goopy impressions before — which is most adult patients — the shift to a 40-second digital scan is one of the most noticeable day-one quality-of-life improvements Bold Bite offers.
In-House 3D Printing
Bold Bite Orthodontics operates an in-house 3D printing lab. The same building where the scan is taken is the building where the retainer, the custom molar band, the indirect-bonding tray, the appliance working model, and the patient fidget toy is printed. Most orthodontic practices outsource printing to a regional lab and wait one to two weeks per job. Bold Bite prints same-day for emergencies, same-week for planned appliances, and same-visit for debonding-day Essix retainers.
The practical effect shows up in three places patients notice.
The practical effect shows up in three places patients notice.
Custom 3D-printed molar bands eliminate the spacer appointment
In most orthodontic offices, a molar band requires a separate spacer appointment one week before bonding. A small, uncomfortable rubber wedge is pushed between the back teeth to create a micro-millimeter gap the band can seat into. Patients often describe it as one of the more painful parts of getting braces. Bold Bite designs each molar band digitally from the iTero scan, prints it to the exact geometry of that patient’s tooth, and seats it in a single visit — no spacer, no second appointment, no week of aching back teeth.
Same-day retainer delivery on debonding day
On the day braces come off, the iTero scan of the finished teeth goes straight to the in-house printer while the patient has their final records taken. A working model of both arches is printed in about an hour. The Essix retainer is thermoformed over that model, trimmed, polished, and handed to the patient before they leave. Patients walk out wearing the retainer that protects the result Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty just spent 12 to 36 months building. Outside-lab retainers typically take one to two weeks — during which teeth are already allowed to drift.
Indirect-bonding trays and appliance working models
Complex appliance cases — MARA, Herbst, MARPE, custom habit breakers — require precise working models. Bold Bite prints those on-site from the CBCT and iTero data, then sends the digital specifications to specialty labs for final fabrication. What normally takes three weeks of lab back-and-forth compresses into a week or less.
Patient fidget toys are printed from the same machines. It is not a clinical feature, but it is a tell: the printers are running every day.
Digital Treatment Planning
Digital treatment planning at Bold Bite ties every prior step together. The Vatech CBCT, the iTero scan, and the clinical exam are loaded into treatment-planning software that lets Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty see the exact 3D position of every tooth, tooth root, and jaw segment before any bracket is placed or any aligner tray is ordered. CBCT-integrated aligner planning — overlaying the aligner setup on the actual bone and root anatomy — is standard workflow at Bold Bite, not a premium add-on, and it is part of why the practice considers Angel Aligners and Invisalign cases equally plannable.
Planning from 3D data changes what the doctor can commit to. Root-position angles, bone-thickness limits for molar intrusion, impacted-canine traction paths, and airway-clearance targets are all visible before the plan is finalized. That reduces mid-treatment surprises, which is how a predicted 18-month treatment ends up taking 18 months rather than 26. Dr. Cao’s CAGS-level diagnostic training and Dr. Marty’s general-dentistry background both feed into this phase — a plan that looks good for tooth alignment but ignores restorative, periodontal, or airway consequences is not a plan Bold Bite signs off on.
Patients see the output of digital planning in two places: the consultation, where the doctors walk the family through a 3D model of the predicted final result on the screen; and the financial agreement, where the stated treatment length and fee are tied to that plan instead of guessed at.
Planning from 3D data changes what the doctor can commit to. Root-position angles, bone-thickness limits for molar intrusion, impacted-canine traction paths, and airway-clearance targets are all visible before the plan is finalized. That reduces mid-treatment surprises, which is how a predicted 18-month treatment ends up taking 18 months rather than 26. Dr. Cao’s CAGS-level diagnostic training and Dr. Marty’s general-dentistry background both feed into this phase — a plan that looks good for tooth alignment but ignores restorative, periodontal, or airway consequences is not a plan Bold Bite signs off on.
Patients see the output of digital planning in two places: the consultation, where the doctors walk the family through a 3D model of the predicted final result on the screen; and the financial agreement, where the stated treatment length and fee are tied to that plan instead of guessed at.
Remote Monitoring
Grin Scope (smartphone app)
Bold Bite Orthodontics is the Jacksonville-area orthodontic practice actively using Grin Scope remote monitoring. Grin is an FDA-registered remote-monitoring platform backed by the American Association of Orthodontists. Each patient receives a small intraoral adapter that clips onto a smartphone camera. Every few weeks, the patient takes a two-minute guided scan of their teeth from home. The scans upload to the Bold Bite clinical team, and Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty personally review them through an AI-assisted treatment tracker that flags off-track movement, broken brackets, hygiene concerns, or aligner-tracking issues.
The effect on a treatment timeline is substantial. Routine in-office check-in appointments — the short “looks good, see you next month” visit that parents drive twenty minutes each way for — can be replaced with a Grin Scope scan submitted the night before bed. In-office visits are preserved for the appointments that actually need hands-on chair time: wire changes, bracket repairs, appliance activations, and finishing checks. Most Bold Bite families report fewer total trips to the office over the course of a comprehensive plan.
Grin also shortens the response time on problems. A parent who sees a broken bracket on a Sunday night can submit a scan, get it reviewed by Monday morning, and come in for a repair visit that is pre-diagnosed rather than walk-in triaged. Broken-bracket turnaround is one of the hidden drivers of total treatment length — every missed week extends finishing — and remote monitoring pulls that loop tighter.
The effect on a treatment timeline is substantial. Routine in-office check-in appointments — the short “looks good, see you next month” visit that parents drive twenty minutes each way for — can be replaced with a Grin Scope scan submitted the night before bed. In-office visits are preserved for the appointments that actually need hands-on chair time: wire changes, bracket repairs, appliance activations, and finishing checks. Most Bold Bite families report fewer total trips to the office over the course of a comprehensive plan.
Grin also shortens the response time on problems. A parent who sees a broken bracket on a Sunday night can submit a scan, get it reviewed by Monday morning, and come in for a repair visit that is pre-diagnosed rather than walk-in triaged. Broken-bracket turnaround is one of the hidden drivers of total treatment length — every missed week extends finishing — and remote monitoring pulls that loop tighter.
Indirect Bonding
Indirect bonding is a digital braces-placement workflow. Instead of bonding each bracket directly onto the tooth freehand during the bonding appointment, Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty plan the ideal bracket position for every tooth on the 3D iTero scan first, then 3D-print a custom transfer tray that seats all the brackets at once in the patient’s mouth. Every bracket lands in the exact planned position in one short appointment, and the precision of the bracket placement directly determines how efficiently the wires can move the teeth.
For the patient, indirect bonding means a shorter bonding appointment, less time holding the mouth open, and fewer mid-treatment repositioning visits down the line. For the treatment plan, it means the wire does not have to fight brackets that were placed slightly off — which is the single biggest cause of treatment taking longer than predicted. Bold Bite uses indirect bonding as the default workflow for comprehensive braces cases when the scan and tooth surface quality make it the right choice.
An in-person examination with a dentist licensed under chapter 466, Florida Statutes, is recommended before beginning telehealth treatment in order to prevent injury or harm.
What This Means for Patients
The technology stack at Bold Bite is not a marketing package. Each piece is chosen because it changes what a patient experiences. Briefly:
Every tool on this page is used on every comprehensive case. No upgrade tiers, no “premium” scan option, no optional airway screening. The technology is the baseline.
Additional Clinical Technology
Equipment Summary
| Category | Equipment | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| 3D Imaging (CBCT) | Vatech Green CT | Ultra-low-radiation-dose 3D cone-beam imaging with full airway, sinus, head/neck, and dual-jaw capture. AI-assisted airway analysis flags constriction at every new-patient consult — not just for airway-flagged cases. Free at consult for patients under 18. |
| Intraoral Scanner | iTero and Allied Star | Two digital scanning systems replace impression trays. A full-mouth iTero scan takes about 40 seconds, produces 3D models for treatment planning, and transmits directly to Invisalign, Angel Aligners, and the in-house 3D printer for retainers and appliances. Allied Star is a wireless scanner used as a secondary workflow for chairside rescans and records follow-up. |
| 3D Printing | In-house 3D printing lab | Retainers, custom bands, indirect-bonding trays, MAD appliance working models, and patient fidget toys are printed in-office. Same-day retainer delivery is possible for emergencies. |
| Remote Monitoring | Grin Scope (smartphone app) | Smartphone-app-based remote orthodontic monitoring. Patients attach a small scope to a phone camera, take a 2-minute guided scan of their teeth at home, and submit. Dr. Marty and Dr. Cao review every submission and respond the same or next business day. Bold Bite is the only practice in Jacksonville that enrolls every patient in remote monitoring as a standard part of treatment. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What technology does Bold Bite Orthodontics use?
Bold Bite uses Vatech Green CT for ultra-low-dose 3D cone-beam imaging with AI-assisted airway analysis, iTero and Allied Star digital intraoral scanners, an in-house 3D printing lab for retainers and custom bands, indirect-bonding digital bracket placement, and Grin Scope remote monitoring for between-visit check-ins. Every tool is used on every comprehensive case — not reserved for premium packages.
Is the 3D CBCT scan free at Bold Bite Orthodontics?
Patients under 18 receive the Vatech Green CT scan at no charge on consultation day. The ultra-low-dose protocol delivers a fraction of the radiation of conventional CBCT scanners, and the scan is used for diagnosis, AI-assisted airway screening, and 3D treatment planning. Most practices in the Jacksonville area charge between one hundred and five hundred dollars for comparable imaging.
Why does Bold Bite screen every patient for airway issues?
A narrow upper jaw, recessed lower jaw, or underdeveloped palate can restrict the airway and disrupt sleep, breathing, and facial growth — and many families do not know their child’s snoring or mouth breathing is related to orthodontic anatomy. Bold Bite runs AI-assisted airway analysis on every Vatech CBCT at the first consultation. Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty review flagged scans together and coordinate a referral to a sleep medicine physician or ENT when formal diagnosis is appropriate.
Does Bold Bite make retainers and appliances in-house?
Yes. The in-house 3D printing lab produces Essix retainers, custom molar bands, indirect-bonding trays, appliance working models, and patient fidget toys on-site. Same-day retainer delivery is standard on debonding day. Replacement retainers through the Bold Bite Retainer Club are available with the scan already on file, typically printed within the same week. Larger appliances like MARA, Herbst, and MARPE are designed digitally in-office and fabricated by specialty labs to Bold Bite specifications.
How does Grin Scope remote monitoring work?
Each patient receives a small intraoral adapter that clips onto a smartphone camera. Every few weeks the patient takes a guided two-minute scan of their teeth from home. Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty review every scan through an AI-assisted treatment tracker that flags off-track movement, broken brackets, hygiene concerns, or aligner-tracking issues. Most families see a meaningful reduction in total in-office visits during comprehensive treatment.
What are custom 3D-printed bands and why do they matter?
In most orthodontic offices, a molar band requires a separate spacer appointment a week before bonding — a painful rubber wedge placed between teeth. Bold Bite designs each molar band digitally from the iTero scan and prints it to the exact geometry of the patient’s tooth. The band seats in a single appointment, with no spacer and no second visit. Eliminating the spacer is one of the most patient-friendly changes the 3D printer has made possible.
What is indirect bonding?
Indirect bonding is a digital braces-placement workflow. Dr. Cao and Dr. Marty plan the ideal bracket position for every tooth on the 3D iTero scan first, then 3D-print a custom transfer tray that seats all the brackets at once. Bracket placement precision is one of the biggest factors in total treatment length — brackets placed even slightly off force the wire to fight the position for the rest of treatment. Indirect bonding shortens the bonding appointment and tightens the finishing timeline.
Do Bold Bite patients actually see every tool listed here?
Yes. CBCT, iTero scanning, AI airway screening, digital treatment planning, and Grin Scope remote monitoring are standard on every comprehensive case. In-house 3D printing produces every retainer and most appliances. Indirect bonding is the default workflow for comprehensive braces cases. The stack is the baseline, not an upgrade package.
How These Technologies Apply to Each Treatment
Each technology on this page is used across different clinical workflows. The destination depends on what the patient is researching.
