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US 10,649,437 B2Granted
Systems and methods for tracking teeth movement during orthodontic treatment
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorRick Matty
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic tracking template is provided for assisting in determining whether a patient's teeth are in an appropriate tooth arrangement for transitioning between a wire and bracket orthodontic treatment to a patient-removable orthodontic appliance treatment. The tracking template may include a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities arranged to fit over at least a portion of the patient's teeth in an intermediate tooth arrangement without applying a tooth-moving force to the teeth or to any brackets attached to the teeth.
Claims9
A system comprising:
- an orthodontic assembly adapted to move a plurality of teeth from an initial tooth arrangement to a planned intermediate tooth arrangement, the orthodontic assembly comprising two or more affixed appliances attached to at least some of the plurality of teeth and a wire mechanically coupled to at least two of the two or more affixed appliances;
- an orthodontic tracking template comprising a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities shaped to fit over at least a portion of the plurality of teeth in the planned intermediate tooth arrangement and to accommodate the orthodontic assembly without applying a tooth-moving force to the plurality of teeth or the orthodontic assembly, a first wall of at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities of the tracking template extending from a cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities and comprising a first edge portion ending at a surface of the at least one affixed appliance closest to the cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities and a second edge portion that extends to cover at least a portion of the wire;
- and
- at least one patient-removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to at least one of the plurality of teeth, the at least one patient-removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance being adapted to cause the plurality of teeth to move from the planned intermediate tooth arrangement to a planned final tooth arrangement.
1 more element
A system comprising:
- an orthodontic assembly adapted to move a plurality of teeth from an initial tooth arrangement to a planned intermediate tooth arrangement, the orthodontic assembly comprising two or more affixed appliances attached to at least some of the plurality of teeth and a wire mechanically coupled to the at least two of the two or more affixed appliances;
- an orthodontic tracking template comprising a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities shaped to fit over at least a portion of the plurality of teeth in the planned intermediate tooth arrangement and to accommodate the orthodontic assembly without applying a tooth-moving force to the plurality of teeth or the orthodontic assembly, a first wall of at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities of the tracking template including a first portion extending from a cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities and ending at a surface of the at least one affixed appliance closest to the cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities, the orthodontic tracking template further comprising a second wall of at least one of the plurality of tooth receiving cavities of the tracking template extending from the cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities and towards a gingival line of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities, a second portion of the first wall further extends to the wire, past the wire, or to a location between the cusp of the tooth receiving cavity of the at least one of the plurality of tooth-receiving cavities and the wire;
- and
- at least one patient-removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to at least one of the plurality of teeth, the at least one patient-removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance being adapted to cause the plurality of teeth to move from the planned intermediate tooth arrangement to a planned final tooth arrangement.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.