Indirect orthodontic bonding systems and methods for bracket placement

A method for fabricating an indirect bonding tray for placement of orthodontic brackets, the method comprising:

• providing a digital model of a patient's teeth in positions of malocclusion;
• digitally moving the patient's teeth from the positions of malocclusion to positions of ideal occlusion in the digital model;
• digitally positioning digital brackets on respective surfaces of the patient's teeth while in the positions of ideal occlusion in the digital model;
• digitally restoring the patient's teeth from the positions of ideal occlusion to the positions of malocclusion while maintaining the positioning of the digital brackets on the respective surfaces of the patient's teeth in the digital model;
• providing a physical model of the patient's teeth based on the digitally restored model of the patient's teeth, the physical model comprising at least one non-functional placeholder orthodontic bracket each attached to a respective tooth of the physical model corresponding to the positioning of a corresponding one of the digital brackets on a corresponding one of the surfaces of the patient's teeth in the digitally restored model;
• shaping a moldable material over the physical model of the patient's teeth and the at least one non-functional placeholder orthodontic bracket of the physical model, thereby creating an indirect bonding tray, the indirect bonding tray comprising at least one well each corresponding to a respective one of the at least one non-functional placeholder orthodontic bracket as positioned on a respective one of the teeth of the physical model;
• and
• securing a functional orthodontic bracket within a corresponding one of the at least one well of the indirect bonding tray, the functional orthodontic bracket comprising substantially the same external geometry as a respective one of the non-functional placeholder orthodontic bracket.