Clear aligner planning · what the sources establish

How orthodontic planning systems actually differ

Eight systems, one criterion per card, every value carrying the source it came from. Seven of them were assessed by a 2025 scoping review that ran each program itself, so some of the absences here were genuinely tested for rather than merely unfound.

Two things to read carefully

“Not offered” and a missing system are different claims. The review obtained every program it assessed and ran each against one fixed list of workflow steps, so a cell saying a step is not offered reports a test. A system absent from a card means no source was found for it, which is a question to put to that vendor.

The review is a dated baseline, not the current product state. Its survey closed in March 2024, and several of these systems have shipped a great deal since — in one case enough to overturn its result outright. Cards carry the review finding followed by the current first-party documentation where it answers the same question.

259statements a source positively documents

9absences somebody actually tested for

316not established — questions, not findings

Show only the systems you are comparing

Where a real comparison exists 28

Three or more systems documented. These are the criteria on which the published material can actually tell systems apart.

3D data the software itself accepts

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: CBCT as DICOM, optical scans as STL, PLY or OBJ, model scans and facial scans, fused into one model carrying crowns, roots, bone, soft tissue and occlusionGM
BlueSkyPlan: CBCT + IOSR25
Clear Aligner Studio: IOS onlyR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: review: IOS plus CBCT only as an exported STL; current vendor documentation adds CBCT-acquired roots, jaw data and 3D facial scansVEN
Nemocast: IOS + CBCT + facial scanR25
OnyxCeph³: IOS onlyR25
Vision (SoftSmile): IOS + CBCTR25
ArchForm: IOS onlyR25

This is the row that decides what every automation claim below is worth, and the review draws the line itself with a footnote: Maestro 3D and Orth’up take CBCT in STL format — a mesh somebody already made from the volume, not the volume. Five of the programs the review tested could import a CBCT scan at all. Automation that begins after an export is automation of a later problem.

Automated tooth segmentation from CBCTtested

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a local two-stage pipeline, results cached to disk so reopening a case skips work already doneGM
BlueSkyPlan: automated — alone among the programs the review tested, a group that did not include GuideMiaR25
Clear Aligner Studio: not offered — the program takes no CBCT
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current software automatically combines scanned crowns with CBCT-acquired roots; full tooth segmentation directly from the volume is not statedVEN
Nemocast: current NemoStudio adds licensed automatic DICOM/model segmentation for teeth, crowns, jaws and related anatomyVEN
OnyxCeph³: not offered — the program takes no CBCT
Vision (SoftSmile): semi-automaticR25
ArchForm: not offered — the program takes no CBCT

Two populations meet in this row and they are not the same. The review obtained and ran a set of programs of its own choosing; this table shows eight columns, seven of them from that set plus us. GuideMia was never reviewed, so “alone among the programs the review tested” says nothing about our cell either way — it reports what the review found, and our cell reports what we document.

Automated tooth segmentation from the intraoral scan

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a separate optical-scan engine running as a local program, upper and lower arches processed in parallelGM
BlueSkyPlan: automatedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: automatedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current vendor documents zero-click AI tooth segmentationVEN
Nemocast: current licensed automatic segmentation accepts models as well as DICOMVEN
OnyxCeph³: semi-automaticR25
Vision (SoftSmile): current vendor documents precise automated anatomical segmentation; the 2024 review recorded it as semi-automaticSS
ArchForm: current vendor workflow states auto segmentation before treatment designAF

Three of the programs automated this when the review surveyed vendors through March 2024. Current vendor documentation now establishes automatic segmentation for additional products, which is why the historical review cells and later vendor updates are labelled separately.

Automated CBCT–intraoral registration and fusiontested

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: an Automatic Alignment function, with a separate bite-registration path for severe malocclusionGM
BlueSkyPlan: automated — “aligns the surface scan perfectly to the radiographic data”BSB
Clear Aligner Studio: not offered — no CBCT to register
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current vendor documents automatic combination of scanned crowns and CBCT-acquired rootsVEN
Nemocast: current NemoStudio documentation describes automatic alignment and segmentation of DICOM and modelsVEN
OnyxCeph³: not offered — no CBCT to register
Vision (SoftSmile): automatedR25
ArchForm: not offered — no CBCT to register

Facial scan accepted as a planning input

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: facial scans fuse into the same anatomical modelGM
BlueSkyPlan: not listed among its inputs
Clear Aligner Studio: not listed among its inputs
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current vendor documents 3D face scans and patient photographs alongside CBCT jaw dataVEN
Nemocast: listed among its 3D inputsR25
OnyxCeph³: not listed among its inputs
Vision (SoftSmile): not listed among its inputs
ArchForm: not listed among its inputs

What the automation covers — planning, design, or production output

7 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: one run crosses all three: setup, IPR, occlusion and staging (planning); aligner and arch models, attachments as geometry, bonding guides and trim paths (design); then case tags, laser-marking offsets and a trimmer fixture definition (production output)GM
BlueSkyPlan: planning automated throughout, plus printable aligner design and an automated trim-line script; no production-machine integration documentedBSB
Clear Aligner Studio: planning and aligner design within the wider 3Shape workflowVEN
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: the same span is documented — segmentation and setup, then transition models, direct-print aligners and 3D labels, then CNC and laser trimming integrationVEN
OnyxCeph³: planning and appliance design across modules, with production tied to the LAB editionONX
Vision (SoftSmile): planning and staging, plus print and model adjustment with blockouts; production handoff not documentedSS
ArchForm: planning, with export automatically optimised for printingAF

Not established from public documentation for Nemocast.

The review’s nine steps are all planning steps. Segmentation, registration, arch curve, movement, occlusion, IPR, attachments, staging — the job ends there, and design begins. Models, trim paths, bonding guides and marking are the half a lab actually spends its hours on, and no column in the published comparison reaches them. Anyone comparing “automation” across these systems from that paper alone is comparing the first third of the work.

Steps automated, of the nine assessed

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: not assessed — GuideMia was not among the programs the review tested. The nine are the review’s list, and our automatic run covers work it has no column for: see the rows belowGM
BlueSkyPlan: 9 of 9 — “the sole program with all steps fully automated” among the programs the review testedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: 5 of 9R25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: 1 of 9R25
Nemocast: 2 of 9R25
OnyxCeph³: 0 of 9 — semi-automatic or manual throughoutR25
Vision (SoftSmile): 3 of 9R25
ArchForm: 2 of 9R25

The review is a useful dated baseline, not a live leaderboard. Its vendor survey closed in March 2024; current first-party documentation below records later capabilities without rewriting the review’s original nine-step scores. The review could not confirm whether BlueSkyPlan’s nine were AI-driven, and none of the surveyed programs had been clinically evaluated in the forty-one included studies — so these scores report what runs, never what works clinically.

Occlusal analysistested

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: automatic occlusion adjustment and automatic dental occlusal changes, with an occlusion distance map to read the resultGM
BlueSkyPlan: automatedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: not offered
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: semi-automaticR25
Nemocast: automatedR25
OnyxCeph³: semi-automaticR25
Vision (SoftSmile): not offered
ArchForm: not offered

Four of the programs the review tested offer no occlusal analysis step at all, including two that automate the most elsewhere. A tested absence, not a gap in the research.

Interproximal reduction and collision planning

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: automatic IPR honouring per-tooth allowed limits, with a live collision check against neighboursGM
BlueSkyPlan: automatedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: automatedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: semi-automaticR25
Nemocast: automatedR25
OnyxCeph³: semi-automatic; movement increments calculated against “user-specified limits for all components of tooth movement, including IPR”ONX
Vision (SoftSmile): automated; the vendor describes simulating and planning IPR “to make space between teeth”SS
ArchForm: manual in the review; the vendor markets fine-tuning of staging, attachments and IPRAF

Attachment positioning

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: automatic attachments, with force ridges, button platforms and cutouts placed alongside themGM
BlueSkyPlan: “populated instantly utilizing automated placement logic”, with manual overrideBSB
Clear Aligner Studio: automatedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: manualR25
Nemocast: manualR25
OnyxCeph³: attachments “applied to support individual movements”, with an attachment designer and multiple attachments per crownONX
Vision (SoftSmile): pre-loaded attachment libraries, automatic placement rules, customisable shapes and sizesSS
ArchForm: semi-automaticR25

Automatic alignment steered by named clinical parameters

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a treatment-plan dialog of real quantities rather than a strength slider: expansion −15 to 15 mm in 0.25 steps (“negative value means retraction”), anterior extrusion/intrusion −6 to 6, curve of Spee height and molar vertical deviation on the lower arch, sagittal and coronal inclination levels −20 to 20, and distalization −15 to 15 — with a crowdedness figure recomputed as they change, because “the combination of expansion, protraction and distalization determines the final crowdedness”. The dialog calls its own values “rough estimations”GM
OnyxCeph³: movement increments calculated against “user-specified limits for all components of tooth movement, including IPR”ONX
Vision (SoftSmile): an automated planner the vendor describes as working from real-time stress calculation and biomechanics, rather than from prescribed arch quantitiesSS
ArchForm: the vendor markets fine-tuning of staging, attachments and IPR; a clinical-parameter dialog of this kind is not documentedAF

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Nemocast.

Two different ideas of control sit in this row and the table should not flatten them. One sets limits the engine must respect — how much IPR, how much movement per step. The other sets clinical intent the engine plans toward — this much expansion, this much distalization, this curve of Spee — and reports back whether the arch can take it. Ours is the second kind, and the crowdedness readout is what makes it a conversation rather than a setting.

Attachment library, and whether you can bring your own

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: twenty-six built-in types from root-control pairs to anchorage and rotation shapes, ending in a user-defined entry: “when you select the user-defined, you can choose an STL file from your system and add it as attachment”, with advice to put the origin about a third of the thickness up from the base. The entry is tier-gated — the chairside edition does not offer itGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: customisable attachment library and creation of custom geometries; outside-file import is not statedVEN
OnyxCeph³: an attachment designer, and multiple attachments per crown; importing an outside file is not documentedONX
Vision (SoftSmile): pre-loaded attachment libraries with customisable shapes and sizes; importing an outside file is not documentedSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, ArchForm.

“Customisable attachments” does not mean one thing. Adjusting a vendor shape, drawing a new geometry in the vendor’s designer, and loading an outside STL are three different degrees of freedom; the table keeps them separate rather than converting all three into the same yes.

Treatment staging

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: automatic staging with step-count balancing and simulationGM
BlueSkyPlan: automatedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: automatedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: semi-automaticR25
Nemocast: semi-automaticR25
OnyxCeph³: movement increments calculated between initial and target situation, with intermediate steps added on a timelineONX
Vision (SoftSmile): semi-automatic in the review; the vendor markets “comprehensive and intuitive staging” with group movementSS
ArchForm: automatedR25

Attachments and brackets removed from a scanned model

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a Remove Attachment tool appears in two toolbars — the model-fixing set beside sculpt and define-area, and the crown-boundary set. Its status tip is not recorded in our support library, so what it removes is stated here no further than thatGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current toolset includes bracket-removal tools for scan cleanupVEN
OnyxCeph³: Bracket Erase 3D is a named moduleONX
Vision (SoftSmile): manual removal of retainers, attachments and scan artifacts is documentedSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, ArchForm.

The row where our own documentation is the weakest link. Three rivals describe this plainly — Maestro 3D ships bracket-removal and scan-cleanup tools, OnyxCeph has a module called Bracket Erase 3D, SoftSmile documents manual removal of retainers and attachments — while our Remove Attachment tool sits in two toolbars with no recorded status tip. Its company there suggests cleaning bonded hardware off a scan, which would matter on exactly the re-scan cases the restart workflow exists for, but suggests is not documents and the cell stays partial until somebody writes the tip down.

Marking data generated onto the arch models

5 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: generated inside the automatic run rather than placed by hand — a case tag carrying the step number and case identifier, embossed on or cut into every model, placed then repositioned and resized; it can be tagged on the arch as a protrusion or on the crown, and direct-print runs additionally carry laser-marking offsets written for FDI 16/26 and 36/46GM
BlueSkyPlan: labels can be propagated across all intermediate modelsBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: automatic model labels are documentedVEN
OnyxCeph³: serial export labels accept patient and treatment-step placeholdersONX
ArchForm: print output is automatically labelledAF

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, Vision (SoftSmile).

Production rather than planning, and the row filled up once current vendor documentation was read: five of the eight label their output, by propagated labels, placeholders in a serial export, or automatic print labelling. No planning-software review scores any of it, which is why the review’s grid shows nothing here and this row had to be built from first-party material.

Treatment report with movements, IPR and attachments

5 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: movement tables and plan data are available inside the caseGM
BlueSkyPlan: Tooth Movement Report provides original-to-final and step-to-step angles and displacementsBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: PDF report includes treatment movements and treatment-design dataVEN
Nemocast: NemoCeph and NemoCast generate configurable treatment reportsVEN
OnyxCeph³: movement tables plus IPR and attachment information are available in the treatment workflowONX

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Open production export formats

6 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: step or range export as PLY, with STL/PLY/OBJ accepted elsewhere in the workflowGM
BlueSkyPlan: STL production export; segmented structures can also be exportedBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: STL, PLY and OBJ are documented open formatsVEN
OnyxCeph³: STL, OBJ, PLY, OFF and DXF export are documentedONX
Vision (SoftSmile): STL and OBJ export are documentedSS
ArchForm: optimized STL output for printingAF

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast.

Browser-based viewer for a finished plan

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a web review path, with cloud save and open, and cases sendable to GuideMia for reviewGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Maestro Cloud includes a web viewer for shared casesVEN
OnyxCeph³: a webview link can be exported for browser reviewONX
Vision (SoftSmile): Vision Viewer gives “secure, browser-based access to treatment plans from any device”SS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, ArchForm.

Doctor–lab collaboration, comments and approval

5 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: cloud save/open and a web review route support case sharingGM
Clear Aligner Studio: 3Shape describes integrated in-house and doctor–lab clear-aligner workflowsVEN
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: cloud collaboration includes messaging, review and approvalVEN
OnyxCeph³: Lab Portal supports shared web review, feedback and approvalONX
Vision (SoftSmile): browser Viewer/Editor supports review, comments, editing and approvalSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Nemocast, ArchForm.

Progress monitored against the plan from a later scan

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: deviations from the plan shown as a colour map, with progress monitoring handled through Cympha StudioGM
BlueSkyPlan: BlueSkyMonitoring is the vendor's remote monitoring workflowBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Check and Correct compares a control scan with the planned transition modelsVEN
Vision (SoftSmile): “upload any progress scan. Instantly see deviations from plan — down to the exact tooth”SS

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, ArchForm.

Mid-treatment restart from an intermediate scan

5 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a designed workflow rather than a workaround: load a jaw intermediate scan, set the restart point, replan from that step and simulate the new plan beside the old one, with revisions savedGM
BlueSkyPlan: “midcourse adjustments are now faster with automatic replanning based on initial treatment goals”BSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Check and Correct updates treatment from a control scan while preserving the planned endpointVEN
Vision (SoftSmile): re-plan mid-course from an uploaded progress scanSS
ArchForm: refinements turned around in a dayAF

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³.

Five of the eight document some form of mid-course replanning. What differs is mechanism: refinement turnaround, deviation review, automatic replan, or a restart anchored to a matched treatment step.

Appliances beyond aligners and brackets

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: expanders, twin blocks, bite ramps anterior and posterior, force ridges, button platforms and cutouts, mandibular advancement wings, and mini-TAD planning with a doubled base-model marginGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: retainers, bite splints, expanders and mandibular-advancement / twin-block appliancesVEN
Nemocast: mandibular repositioning, micro-screw and corticotomy guides, plus integrated orthodontic appliance workflowsVEN
OnyxCeph³: Retainer, Bite Splint, TADmatch and other named 3D modulesONX

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Direct-print aligner design

6 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: aligner models for direct printing generated automatically, with printer clearance and thickness as parametersGM
BlueSkyPlan: “Design Printable Aligners”BSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: direct-print aligners with variable thickness are documentedVEN
Nemocast: direct-print aligner production is documentedVEN
OnyxCeph³: positive/direct aligner export is documented as pre-release and requires Bite Splint 3DONX
Vision (SoftSmile): print and model adjustment with hollow, ribbed, solid and custom blockouts — model preparation for printing rather than a printed alignerSS

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, ArchForm.

Automatic trim path for a robotic trimmer

5 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a trimming path generated from the aligner boundary and a named fixture definition — GuideMia fixture, Ortho-automation fixture or a custom jig file — emitting a coordinate file and a review STL per stepGM
BlueSkyPlan: “Design Aligner Trim Curve: creates an automated trim line script” — a trim line, with no fixture definition documentedBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: automatic CNC/laser trim integration is documentedVEN
Nemocast: CNC cutting integration is documented for aligner productionVEN
OnyxCeph³: trimline propagation and configurable export are documented; a fixture-specific robotic path is notONX

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

The distinction in this row is the fixture. A trim curve is a line on a model; a trim path is that line expressed for a particular robotic trimmer’s jig. Blue Sky Bio documents the first. Trimming belongs to production rather than planning, which is exactly the kind of capability a planning-software review would not think to score.

Planning available as a service, with no local install

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: cases can be sent to ClearAligner.AI, which returns an AI-made design, and to the GuideMia design service — a route for a practice that wants the output without running the software or the workstationGM
BlueSkyPlan: optional services alongside the softwareBSB
Vision (SoftSmile): planning services alongside the platformSS
ArchForm: a concierge planning option alongside self-planningAF

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³.

A different answer to the same question as the chairside edition below: who does the work. A lighter edition keeps it in the building; a service sends it out and brings back a design. Most of this field offers the second, which is worth knowing before reading any claim about how little time a plan takes.

Desktop or cloud

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: desktop on the operator’s own workstation, with an optional cloud design system that can run in the customer’s own account or on-premiseGM
BlueSkyPlan: computer-basedR25
Clear Aligner Studio: computer-basedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Windows desktop plus Maestro Cloud collaborationVEN
Nemocast: computer-basedR25
OnyxCeph³: computer-basedR25
Vision (SoftSmile): cloud browser Viewer/Editor plus production workflowSS
ArchForm: desktop planning with cloud-connected servicesAF

Access

8 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: licensed, with published pricingGM
BlueSkyPlan: free desktop download; production STL exports are purchasedBSB
Clear Aligner Studio: closedR25
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: closedR25
Nemocast: closedR25
OnyxCeph³: closedR25
Vision (SoftSmile): closedR25
ArchForm: closedR25

Documented licensing shape — different models, not different prices

4 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: subscription to the desktop editions, plus optional cloud design servicesGM
BlueSkyPlan: free planning software with paid production exports and optional servicesBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Expert licensing or pay-per-use accessVEN
OnyxCeph³: modular PRO / LAB editions; open 3D export is tied to LABONX

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Partially documented 14

One or two systems documented. Enough to know the criterion matters, not enough to compare across the field.

Virtual roots created where the case has no CBCT

2 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: Create Virtual Roots builds them for segmented teeth, so movement is planned against the whole tooth rather than the crown; anatomical roots are used instead when a volume is presentGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: current technical specifications include virtual roots as well as CBCT-acquired rootsVEN

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

2D / 3D cephalometric analysis and growth prediction

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: offered through Cympha Studio rather than inside OrthoPlus — a separate product in the same stable, which is a different answer from having it in the plannerGM
Nemocast: NemoCeph documents 2D and 3D cephalometry, facial analysis, growth prediction and report generationVEN
OnyxCeph³: the official module index lists Ricketts V.T.O. among the 2D modules; no 3D cephalometric module appears on that index, so 3D is not confirmed hereONX

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Automatic undercut filling on arch models

2 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: undercuts filled and evaluated against the chosen insertion direction, with the option to reuse the previous step’s fillings so consecutive models stay consistentGM
Vision (SoftSmile): print and model adjustment offers “hollow, ribbed, solid, and custom blockouts”SS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, ArchForm.

Tooth extraction handled as a planning case, not a deletion

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: a 32-tooth extraction chart, automatic extraction within the run, extraction applied to the original tissue at step 0, plus spacers as virtual teeth, space kept for missing teeth and an emerging-cap option for a replacing toothGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: virtual extraction with gingival reconstructionVEN
Nemocast: virtual extraction with gingival deformation in the aligner workflowVEN

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, OnyxCeph³, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

All-in-one model fixing, with the manual toolbox beside it

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: one All-in-One Fix across the jaw, sitting in a toolbox with fix-quality-issues, fill holes, reduce triangles, trim model, smooth, sculpt and define-area; the product’s own advice is to do the targeted fixes first — “if you want to fix plaster model bubbles, extend models, trim model boundary” — rather than reach for the one buttonGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: AI scan correction and automatic model preparation are documented in the current workflowVEN
OnyxCeph³: 3D export includes automatic inspection and repair plus hollowing, offset and perforation controlsONX

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Staging by key frame rather than by hand-built phases

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: automatic staging sets a key frame per tooth — “a tooth position where the tooth will have to be during the movement process”, marked red in the movement table — and adds steps where a collision demands itGM
OnyxCeph³: increments calculated between initial and target situation, with intermediate steps added on a timelineONX
Vision (SoftSmile): group movement within stagingSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Nemocast, ArchForm.

A tooth moved mid-course, and the staging re-derived around it

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: round-tripping rather than nudging: the move-at-step toggle is available only when the selected cell is a key frame, so the edited position becomes a constraint the plan must pass through, not a change the next recompute discards. Automatic staging then reruns the movements “in the middle of the simulation so that all the collisions will be eliminated”, adding steps where the new constraint needs themGM
OnyxCeph³: intermediate steps can be added on the timeline and checked or adjusted; whether editing one re-derives the rest is not documentedONX
Vision (SoftSmile): staging adjustments can be requested and the staging engine recalculates for the next revision — a revision cycle rather than an edit that resolves in placeSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Nemocast, ArchForm.

The question behind this row is what happens to your edit. A mid-course position is only useful if the automation is obliged to honour it; otherwise the next recompute quietly undoes the clinician’s judgement and the plan looks automatic right up until it is wrong. Nothing in the review measures this, because its staging column scores whether staging runs automatically, not whether it survives being corrected.

Collisions removed automatically across every step, not just at setup

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: movements re-run mid-simulation so collisions are eliminated across the whole plan, with an aggressive mode and a recalculate-collisions-and-gaps pass over the finished stagingGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: its own staging material describes the software “automatically detecting collisions and spaces” to guide how movements are distributed across macro and micro stagingVEN
Vision (SoftSmile): “detects and visualizes potential collisions between teeth during treatment” and “automatically adjusts the treatment plan to resolve collisions”SS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, ArchForm.

The review scores collision once, inside IPR planning, so its grid cannot show collision work done before planning begins or again across a finished plan. Current SoftSmile and Maestro documentation adds evidence beyond that older instrument; remaining blanks are questions, not findings.

Tooth movement recorded as a video from inside the application

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: “everything happens within this image window will be captured. Click the button again to save as an mp4 file” — so a movement playback, with soft tissue if wanted, becomes a file to send without screen-recording softwareGM
BlueSkyPlan: the current manual documents video exportBSB
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: video report is part of the sharing workflowVEN

Not established from public documentation for Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

The step the patient actually reached, found by the software

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: the step number the operator enters is a hint rather than the answer: “the system will try to match the new scan with original plan and find the most fit step of the treatment. For example, the current step should be 10, but the scan may match with step 8, which means the restart should start from step 8”. The replan then runs from the matched step, and the control text tells the clinician how to make the match reliable — “remove the existing attachments on the patient’s teeth so that the system can better identify the actual treatment status”GM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: Check and Correct automatically identifies the transition model that best matches the current scanVEN
Vision (SoftSmile): a progress scan is matched against the plan and deviation reported tooth by tooth; working out which planned step the dentition has reached is not something the documentation claims the software doesSS

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, ArchForm.

The capability is now documented in two products here: GuideMia and Maestro 3D. Patent literature also describes matching a current scan against planned stages, so it should not be presented as a newly invented idea. The useful comparison is operational: whether the match only reports deviation or also establishes the restart point for a revised plan.

Several treatment plans kept side by side and switched between

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: revisions saved as whole plans — “one plan is defined as the tooth positions and attachments or brackets” — listed in the case information table and made current on demandGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: multiple virtual setup projects can be retained for a caseVEN
Nemocast: treatment timelines can be overlaid for comparison; switching complete alternative plans is not statedVEN

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, OnyxCeph³, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Two different operations wear the same name. With a new scan, the question is where the patient actually is, and the replan drives from there toward the endpoint. Without one, a planned step becomes the baseline and what follows is revised. Current documentation now distinguishes several mechanisms, but only GuideMia explicitly documents both operations and the rule that already-manufactured steps remain untouched.

Planned alongside anchorage implants, with the implant view to match

3 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: anchorage implants added to the ortho case, made parallel to one another, and read on an implant-centric cross-section view — the surgical-guide engine working inside the orthodontic planGM
Nemocast: micro-screw and corticotomy guides are documented in the orthodontic workflowVEN
OnyxCeph³: used for virtual planning of TAD positions and the design of insertion guidesLIT

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Maestro 3D Ortho Studio, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Acid-etching guide

2 of 8 systems documented

GuideMia OrthoPlus: generated alongside the bonding guideGM
Maestro 3D Ortho Studio: an acid-etching guide is documented in the current orthodontic workflowVEN

Not established from public documentation for BlueSkyPlan, Clear Aligner Studio, Nemocast, OnyxCeph³, Vision (SoftSmile), ArchForm.

Where only GuideMia’s documentation answers 27

Capabilities GuideMia publishes in detail, and for which no public source was found elsewhere. Read the silence carefully — it is a question about the other systems, not an answer about them.