State of Orthodontic Market: Digital Dominates

By Kim Molinaro

Posted Feb 12, 2025 in LMT Surveys

Digital technology continues to dominate and transform the orthodontic niche. Fueling this transformation is the rapid adoption of IO scanning in the orthodontic practice and, as a result, 3D-printed models have become the norm, largely eliminating traditional model fabrication in the ortho lab.


Case in point: A comparison of LMT’s 2020 and 2025 State of the Orthodontic Market Surveys highlights these changes in the last five years:



  • The percentage of dentist-clients sending digital impressions has almost doubled, from 44% to 82%.

  • More than 80% of all impressions received by our orthodontic survey respondents are digital, up almost 40 percentage points.

  • Currently, 97% of our respondents have one or more 3D printers in their laboratory and the number of orthodontic labs with two or...
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About The Author

  • Kim Molinaro

    Managing Editor at LMT Communications, Inc. · West Hartford, CT

    In her 25+ years with LMT, Kim has managed to combine her creative flair—infusing energy into our content and orchestrating some of our most popular theme issues—with the practical focus of keeping our processes...

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