— FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The questions under the surface.
Bonding, retainers, toothbrushes — the plastic in dentistry sits against you for years, and almost no manufacturer will tell you what it sheds. Here is what the evidence shows, what it doesn't yet, and where bio. draws its lines.
— How to read this page
Microplastics research is young and moving quickly. We've tried to separate three things that often get blurred together: what laboratory studies have demonstrated, what they suggest but haven't proven, and what is still genuinely unknown. Nothing here is medical advice. Every figure is cited at the foot of the page.
The basics
bio. was founded to address a largely ignored issue in modern dentistry and orthodontics: the constant shedding of plastics, chemical additives, and monomers directly into the mouth. Our goal is to bring transparent testing and bio-derived materials to everyday dental devices.
Our bio.retainers are available now directly through our partnered clinicians or through an allocation tier. For bio.aligners, your treating clinician coordinates with us batch-by-batch to structure a plan optimized around your treatment timeline.
Plastics in your mouth
Traditional clear aligners and retainers are worn up to 22 hours a day. Under the constant friction, warmth, and humidity of the mouth, conventional thermoplastics degrade, slowly micro-shedding particles and chemical stabilizers directly into your system over years of contact.
Health questions
Yes. The composite resins used to fill, bond, and repair teeth are plastic-based and are a recognized source of BPA and monomer release. This release occurs directly at the tooth surface during the curing phase and persists in trace amounts dynamically under daily bite wear.
What the evidence shows
We keep our testing paradigms open. Our material validation metrics, independent mass spectrometry results, and lot-by-lot shedding parameters are fully documented and accessible under the "Bio. Standard" segment of our clinical portal.
How bio. answers this
Our retainers are built exclusively from an independently screened, bio-derived polymer matrix. We verify what it sheds lot-by-lot, ensuring it meets an architectural safety benchmark that traditional thermoplastic manufacturers do not test for.