About LightForce

Company History

Snowed in during the infamous Boston blizzard of 2015, Dr. Alfred Griffin III began his research into several recently-published breakthroughs in 3D printing. What he found was game-changing. Based on new developments in the space, he theorized that it might have finally become possible to print a clinically acceptable bracket—something that had never been done before.

Three tireless years of research and development later, Dr. Griffin achieved what had once been impossible: a 3D printed bracket made of ceramic polycrystalline alumina. Orthodontists had talked about creating a 100% personalized, fixed appliance treatment for decades. Now, that vision was about to become a reality.

But Dr. Griffin knew he couldn’t transform an industry on his own. That’s why he joined forces with Dr. Lou Shuman — a senior executive at Invisalign® during its early stages of hyper-growth, a major thought leader in the dental industry, and a successful entrepreneur/CEO himself. Dr. Shuman helped Dr. Griffin to grow the Lightforce team with key biomechanical engineers, hardware engineers, and software developers, who brought a depth of experience in developing advanced dental systems.

The company received formal FDA clearance in 2019 and the complete system was officially launched at the 2019 AAO Annual Session.

In 2021, LightForce moved its headquarters from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Burlington, Massachusetts, allowing the company to nearly quadruple its office and production space and make room for its ever-growing team.

In 2022, LightForce was awarded the AAO Innovator Award.