Abstract: An Orthodontic teeth positioning appliance comprising an anterior positioning component, a posterior component and a resilient means connecting the anterior and posterior components. The anterior positioning component is configured to be in contact with, in order to push against, the lingual faces of a plurality of anterior teeth, when worn by the user and the posterior component is configured to be anchored to at least one posterior tooth, when worn by the user in order that the resilient means urges apart the anterior positioning component from the posterior component. The appliance is preferably removable by the user.

Abstract: An orthodontic space-closing appliance has an anterior component that can be secured to the anterior part of one of the patient's dental arches; a posterior component that is slidably connected to the anterior component and that can be secured to teeth in the patient's dental arch distal to the teeth to which the anterior component is secured; and an urging member acting on the posterior and anterior components to urge those components towards one another. The posterior component has a support block that is adapted to act against the underside of an attachment fixed to the lingual surface of the tooth to which the posterior component is attached. The support block applies force to resist tipping of the tooth as the tooth is displaced anteriorly.

Abstract: An orthodontic appliance comprising a generally u-shape tooth positioning shell (6,8) adapted for mounting on teeth of the upper or lower arch (2,4) of a patient. The shell (6,8) has a geometry shaped to receive and resiliently apply pressure to one or more teeth to reposition them and at least one additional formation (10,12) on or in the positioning shell adapted to perform a function other than repositioning teeth.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of manufacturing a series of tooth positioners for incrementally repositioning one or more teeth of a patient from an initial configuration to a final configuration via one or more intermediate configurations. The method uses a composite model of the patient's teeth in the initial configuration, the composite model having a base and one or more discrete model teeth. Each model tooth includes a crown portion and a root portion and is mounted on the base in a tooth mounting portion of the base formed from a mounting material in which the root portion can be imbedded and retained in position but which can allow movement of the root portion through the tooth mounting portion upon application of a force to the crown portion of the model tooth. In the method, the position of one or more of the model teeth is changed to reconfigure the composite model to a first intermediate configuration. A negative impression of the first intermediate tooth configuration is then made.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for measuring relative movement between two portions of the facial skeleton. A target (4) is fixed in position relative t a one of the portions of the facial skeleton, the target comprising three or more light sources having a known geometric relationship with one another. An image capture device (2) is fixed in position relative to the other of the portions of the facial skeleton for capturing images of the three or more light sources of the target. The captured images can be used to determine relative changes in portion and orientation of the two portions of the facial skeleton.