3M

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3M Industrial and Transportation Business
1601 S. Shamrock Ave., (626) 358-0136

3M Unitech Health Care Business
2724 S. Peck Rd., Monrovia, CA 91016-5097
(626) 574-4000

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

Additional information is always welcome, in the way of comments.