Abstract: An orthodontic appliance includes a body defining a slot including an inserting portion including an open end, and a receiving portion spaced apart from the open end and communicating with the inserting portion. A locking member is at least partially and movably received within an opening. The locking member is movable at least along the first axis between a locked state and an unlocked state and is normally biased to the locked state. In the locked state, the locking member at least partially extends into the inserting portion to removably retain the archwire within the receiving portion. In the unlocked state, the locking member is displaced from the locked state into the opening along the first axis, such that upon application of an external force, the locking member is movable to the unlocked state to allow movement of the archwire between the inserting portion and the receiving portion.

Abstract: A method of making a transfer apparatus includes providing a physical mockup having a shape that corresponds to a positive shape of a patient's dental arch and one or more carrier assemblies that each include a crane body releasably connected to an orthodontic appliance. A transfer apparatus may be formed over the physical mockup, with the transfer tray representing a negative replica of at least a portion of the mockup. The transfer apparatus may be used to seat the appliance on a patient's dental arch, after which point the appliance can be separated from the crane body and bonded to the associated tooth.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient and a spring member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment. The attachment may be configured to affix to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause at least one of a rotation, a translation, a tipping, a torqueing, an extrusion, or an intrusion of the at least one tooth toward a desired position of the tooth when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient.

Abstract: A method includes wire driven phase in which a plurality of attachments are bonded to teeth, the attachments including a wire-retaining region and an engagement region. The engagement region has a shoulder configured to releasably engage a corresponding indentation in an aligner tray. An archwire is inserted in to the wire-retaining regions to move a first malaccluded tooth from a first position to a second position. An aligner phase follows the wire driven phase, in which the archwire is removed, and an aligner tray is applied over the teeth of the patient. The aligner tray includes cavities shaped to receive and resiliently position the first maloccluded tooth from the second position to a third position, and further includes indentations configured to releasably engage at least a portion of the engagement regions on the attachments.

Abstract: An indirect bonding device includes a first tray and a second tray. The first tray is configured to be detachably coupled to a tooth having a tooth surface. The second tray is configured to be detachably coupled to the first tray. The first tray includes a cavity at least partially extending from a first inner surface to a first outer surface along a longitudinal axis. An orthodontic appliance is at least partially and detachably received within the cavity. An adhesive layer is disposed on a base surface of the orthodontic appliance. Upon detachable coupling of the first tray to the tooth, the adhesive layer is spaced apart from the tooth surface. Furthermore, upon detachable coupling of the move the orthodontic appliance towards the tooth surface, such that the adhesive layer contacts the tooth surface.

Abstract: Attachments of the present disclosure combines the optimal practices of the traditional bracket-wire system and more recent resilient appliance (e.g., CTAs and polymeric bands) systems. The attachments include prescribed in/outs, torques and angulations designed utilizing the straight wire methodology for determining the bonding location on a particular tooth of the dental arch. A marriage of bracket prescription with attachment placement can help the treating professional to better visualize the treatment outcome with the tray or band on the patient.

Abstract: The invention relates to a 3D printing system comprising a 3D printing device for manufacturing at least two workpieces. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing at least two workpieces by means of the 3D printing system. Furthermore, the invention relates to an adapter set for attaching workpiece holders to a 3D printing device.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient; a spring member integrally formed with the shell; and a positioning member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment affixed to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause movement of the at least one tooth toward a desired position when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient. The positioning member may be configured to facilitate engagement of the spring member with the attachment in response to a positioning force being applied to the positioning member.

Abstract: A method of forming an arch member comprising an arch member body and an arch member coupling integral with the body, comprising: providing a substrate comprising a resilient material; and removing a portion of the substrate to form the arch member. The arch member body including a cross-sectional geometry that varies along a length of the body. Also a method of designing an orthodontic appliance comprising: providing a proposed specification of the orthodontic appliance, wherein the orthodontic appliance comprises an arch member comprising an arch member body and an arch member coupling integral with the body, and a set of anchors, providing a first digital image representing a first dental arrangement associated with the orthodontic appliance; deriving a target digital image representing a target dental arrangement; revising the proposed specification of the orthodontic appliance based in part on the target digital image; and forming the orthodontic appliance based on the revised proposed specification.

Abstract: An orthodontic bracket that forms a slot for receiving an archwire. The slot extends through the orthodontic bracket along an archwire axis. The slot is delimited in directions radially of the archwire axis by a slot base surface, an opposite slot cover surface and two opposite slot side surfaces. Further, the slot has an open side that is provided by a gap within one of the slot side surfaces in a dimension along the archwire axis.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient and a spring member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment. The attachment may be configured to affix to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause at least one of a rotation, a translation, a tipping, a torqueing, an extrusion, or an intrusion of the at least one tooth toward a desired position of the tooth when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient and a spring member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment. The attachment may be configured to affix to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause at least one of a rotation, a translation, a tipping, a torqueing, an extrusion, or an intrusion of the at least one tooth toward a desired position of the tooth when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient.

Abstract: An orthodontic bracket having a bracket pad (2), and a bracket body (1) extending from the bracket pad. The bracket has a slot (4) for receiving an orthodontic archwire. The slot has a proximal slot side face (4a), a distal side face (4b) and a slot ground face (4c). The bracket has at least one archwire support structure (5a, 5b) that forms a support surface (6a, 6b) in a plane of the slot ground face. The support surface is spaced from the slot ground face. The archwire support structure forms a flat and protrudes in a dimention generally parallel to a slot cross axis. The invention help maximizing the tip control in an orthodontic treatment.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient; a spring member integrally formed with the shell; and a positioning member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment affixed to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause movement of the at least one tooth toward a desired position when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient. The positioning member may be configured to facilitate engagement of the spring member with the attachment in response to a positioning force being applied to the positioning member.

Abstract: A lingual orthodontic appliance contains a lingual bracket for an anterior tooth and an archwire. The orthodontic appliance is defined in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. The archwire extends in a first and a second dimension of the coordinate system generally U-shaped. In the third dimension the archwire is generally flat. The archwire has a rectangular cross-section with a height defined by the longer side of the rectangular cross-section. The height is oriented along the third dimension. The bracket further has a bracket pad and a bracket body. The bracket body forms a slot for receiving the archwire. The slot is formed by at least two opposing parallel slot side faces and a slot ground face arranged perpendicular thereto. The slot has a width defined by the distance between the slot side faces. The width matches with the height of the archwire. The invention is advantageous for an orthodontic treatment of teeth requiring good tip and rotation control.

Abstract: An orthodontic bracket that forms a slot for receiving an archwire. The slot extends through the orthodontic bracket along an archwire axis. The slot is delimited in directions radially of the archwire axis by a slot base surface, an opposite slot cover surface and two opposite slot side surfaces. Further, the slot has an open side that is provided by a gap within one of the slot side surfaces in a dimension along the archwire axis.

Abstract: A removable dental appliance may include an appliance body configured to at least partially surround a plurality of teeth of a dental arch of a patient. The appliance body may include a unitary material defining a shell shaped to receive at least one tooth of the patient and a spring member integrally formed with the shell. The spring member may be configured to receive an attachment. The attachment may be configured to affix to the at least one tooth. The spring member may be configured to apply a spring force to the attachment to cause at least one of a rotation, a translation, a tipping, a torqueing, an extrusion, or an intrusion of the at least one tooth toward a desired position of the tooth when the removable dental appliance is worn by the patient.

Abstract: A method of preparing an orthodontic bracket. Such an orthodontic bracket has a bracket bonding pad and a bracket body with a bracket slot. The method has steps of providing a precursor of an orthodontic bracket into a machine for modifying the shape of the orthodontic bracket precursor. The orthodontic bracket precursor has an alignment structure of a pre-determined geometry. Further the alignment structure and the bracket slot are spatially arranged relative to each other at a pre-determined distance and orientation. The method further has the steps of aligning the orthodontic bracket precursor based on the alignment structure and embedding the orthodontic bracket precursor at least partially in a liquid. The liquid is cause to solidify and thereby the orthodontic bracket precursor is retained in position. The so retained orthodontic bracket precursor is changed in shape.

Abstract: Various embodiments of an orthodontic appliance and method of forming such appliance are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, the orthodontic appliance can include an arch member including an arch member body and an arch member coupling connected to the body. The orthodontic appliance can also include an anchor including an anchor coupling and a base adapted to connect the anchor to a surface of a tooth. The arch member coupling can be releasably connectable to the anchor coupling, and the anchor can be adapted for displacement relative to the arch member body when the anchor is connected to the surface of the tooth and the arch member coupling is connected to the anchor coupling.

Abstract: A method of making a physical mockup the method comprises the steps of providing a virtual dental arch, a virtual set of orthodontic brackets for the virtual dental arch and a virtual set of analogs. Each analog is associated with a virtual bracket of the virtual set of brackets and the shape of at least one of the analogs differs from the shape of the associated bracket. The method further comprises the steps of providing a virtual mockup in which the virtual dental arch and the set of virtual analogs are merged, and manufacturing the physical mockup based on the virtual mockup. The physical mockup represents a shape composed of the shape the dental arch and the shape of the set of analogs. The invention facilitates bonding of brackets to a patent's teeth.