Align Technology.

Align Technology's about page says five employees founded the company in 1997 in a duplex in Redwood City, California, to straighten teeth with technology. A timeline on that site dates the founding to 1 March 1997, FDA clearance to market Invisalign to 1 September 1998, first commercial sales to North American orthodontists to 1 July 1999, and a Nasdaq listing under ALGN to 26 January 2001. A 2011 release says Align was founded in March 1997 and received FDA clearance in 1998. A 2020 Form 10-K says the company was incorporated in Delaware in April 1997.

The about page says Align acquired the iTero intraoral scanner in 2011. The 2 May 2011 release says the deal was the completed acquisition of Cadent Holdings, maker of iTero and OrthoCAD scanning systems, and that the release was issued from San Jose. The 2020 filing says corporate headquarters moved from San Jose, California, to Tempe, Arizona, effective 1 January 2021. Regional headquarters in that filing are Raleigh for the Americas, Rotkreuz for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and Singapore for Asia Pacific.

The about page says the Invisalign system is built from digital planning and a series of clear aligners, cites a database of over 23 million cases, and says more than 16 million restoration cases have been enabled by iTero. Those counts are Align's. A 2017 filing, written before the Tempe move, said aligners were fabricated in Juarez, Mexico, and scanner wands were produced in Or Yehuda, Israel, with treatment planning then centered in San Jose, Costa Rica. Treat plant locations as dated to that filing unless a current report repeats them.

Invisalign moves teeth. iTero records a digital impression for orthodontic submission and, the about page says, for restorative work. They are different devices. An iTero scan can start an Invisalign case. It does not, by itself, fabricate the aligners. Training is required before a doctor submits cases, according to the 2017 filing's description of the system as a Class II device.

Align suits an orthodontic or general practice that wants the Invisalign system, an iTero scanner, or both. Scanners are compared on the intraoral scanner guide.

The aligner is a treatment product. The scanner is a capture device. A practice can own one without the other, but the about page says some Invisalign tools are exclusive to iTero.

Invisalign does not use brackets and wires, which is how the 2011 release describes it. That description is not a claim that every malocclusion is a candidate. The doctor still submits records.

iTero restorative scans and Invisalign scans can share a wand and still be different case types in the software. Read which module you are buying.

Use Tempe, Arizona, as the headquarters from 1 January 2021, per the 2020 filing. Older documents say 2820 Orchard Parkway, San Jose. Do not ship a scanner repair to the San Jose street without checking.

The 23 million case figure and the 16 million restoration figure are on the about page. They are not a warranty on a single case.