History of 3M Unitek Monrovia

3M Unitek was founded in 1948 with the introduction of the first stainless steel bracket, manufactured by a hand full of orthodontics from a garage in Pasadena. Unitek was named after the “Universal Bracket Technique.” The company has been acquired twice: by Bristol-Meyers in 1978 and by 3M in 1987.

When 3M acquired Unitek Orthodontics in 1987, it was a leader in the orthodontic supplies market. Since that time, 3M Unitek has functioned as a wholly owned subsidiary marketing directly to orthodontists. 3M Unitek has advanced the state-of-the-art in a variety of segments including ceramic esthetic brackets, shape-memory alloy-based arch wires and a unique, patented adhesive which is pre-applied to the base of the brackets. Milestones of product development for 3M Unitek:

• 1950 – Seamless Bands
• 1967 – AlastiK™ Ligatures
• 1977 – Nitinol Wire
• 1981 – Dyna-Lock™ Brackets
• 1983 – Traction Release™ Headgear
• 1985 – Uni-Twin™ Brackets
• 1987 – Transcend™ Brackets
• 1988 – Transbond™ Adhesive
• 1991 – APC™ Adhesive System
• 1995 – Victory Series™ Brackets
• 1996 – Clarity™ Ceramic Brackets
• 1997 – MBT™ Appliance System
• 1999 – Transbond™ MIP Primer
• 2000 – Transbond™ Plus Adhesive
• 2001 – APC™ II Adhesive System
• 2002 – Victory Series™ Low Profile Brackets
• 2003 – Ortholux™ LED Curing Light
• 2004 – APC™ PLUS Adhesive Coated Appliance System
• 2004 – SmartClip™ Self-Ligating Appliance System
• 2007 – Clarity™ SL Appliance System
• 2007 – 3M acquired Abzil and LingualCare