Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance. The monitoring electronics may communicate with near-field communication (NFC) signals. An NFC booster is disclosed to improve NFC data transfer between the electronic devices that monitor patient usage and communication devices. NFC boosters may be included within dental appliance cases and/or mobile phone cases. Also described are method and apparatuses for mounting the monitoring electronics onto the dental appliance. Also described are compact sensors, e.g., capacitive sensors, that may be included as part of a monitoring electronics unit.

Abstract: Implementations describe systems and methods for manufacturing and performing quality assessment of dental appliances. In one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a dental appliance comprises receiving, at a holder, a feature of the dental appliance, the feature comprising a first surface having a first shape, wherein the holder holds the feature of the dental appliance at a reference position. The method further includes automatically placing an object against the feature at the reference position using a robot arm, wherein the object comprises a second surface having a second shape that mates with the first shape. The method further includes applying pressure to press the object against the feature of the dental appliance and bonding the object to the feature of the dental appliance while applying the pressure.

Abstract: Apparatuses for sanitizing and/or sterilizing a dental/orthodontic appliance are described herein. These apparatuses may include an internal chamber in which one or more sanitizing/sterilizing modes, such as UV light (e.g., UVC light), ultrasound, heat, etc. may be applied to an appliance.