Laser cutting

A method comprising:

• providing a series of specialized molds, each specialized mold of the series of specialized molds associated with a virtual treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
• forming a respective series of sheets of material over the series of specialized molds, each sheet of the series of sheets conforming to respective molds of the series of specialized molds to create a series of conformed sheets of material, the series of conformed sheets of material forming a respective series of dental appliances associated with the virtual treatment plan and a respective series of excess material to be removed from the series of conformed sheets of material;
• for each specialized mold of the series of specialized molds:
• defining a cut path for removing the respective excess material from the respective conformed sheet of material;
• formulating instructions to guide a laser from a laser generating component to cut through the respective conformed sheet of material along the cut path;
• trimming, using the laser, the respective conformed sheet of material to separate the respective formed dental appliance from the respective excess material along the cut path according to the instructions;
• and
• removing the respective dental appliance from each specialized mold.

The method of manufacturing a trimmed dental appliance, the method comprising:

• creating a treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
• creating a virtual version of a plurality of specialized dental appliances based on the created treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
• forming at least one of the specialized dental appliances based on the virtual version of the plurality of specialized dental appliances;
• determining, for the at least one specialized dental appliance, a cut path for trimming excess material from the at least one formed specialized dental appliances;
• determining adjustment instructions based on the defined cut path for adjusting at least one of a laser generating component, an optical component, or a fixture that holds the at least one formed specialized dental appliances of a dental appliance trimming system to cut through the excess material along the cut path;
• and
• trimming, using a laser from the laser generating component, excess material from the at least one formed specialized dental appliance along the defined cut path using the dental appliance trimming system and according to the determined adjustment instructions associated with the defined cutting path for the at least one formed specialized dental appliances.