Direct fabrication of aligners for arch expansion
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsAvi Kopelman, Allen Boronkay, Ryan Kimura, Yaser Shanjani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, methods, and devices for producing appliances for expansion of the arch of a patient are provided. An arch expanding appliance comprises a force generating portion to apply an arch expansion force and a retention portion to hold the force generating portion on the teeth. The retention portion comprises a flexible portion and a stiff portion. The force generating portion applies a force to move teeth associated with the flexible portion, while the stiff portion resists movement of its associated teeth. The orthodontic appliances can be designed according to the specifications provided herein and manufactured using direct fabrication methods.
Claims17
An apparatus to expand an arch of a patient, the apparatus comprising:
- a polymeric shell including:
- a plurality of teeth receiving structures configured to receive and resiliently reposition a plurality of teeth of the patient from an initial arrangement toward a target, wherein the plurality of teeth receiving structures comprise a first crosslinked polymer;
- and a plurality of retention portions including:
- a flexible retention portion, wherein the flexible retention portion comprises the first crosslinked polymer;
- and
- a stiff retention portion, wherein the stiff retention portion is configured to resist movement of a first of the plurality of teeth while allowing movement of a second plurality of teeth when the apparatus is worn,
- wherein both the flexible retention portion and the stiff retention portion are integral to the polymeric shell;
- and
- a force generating portion connected with cross-linking to the polymeric shell, wherein the force generating portion is shaped to span a space between opposing posterior teeth of the patient, wherein the force generating portion is configured to apply an expansion force on the arch to expand the arch toward a target distance between the posterior teeth, wherein the force generating portion is retained on the polymeric shell by the flexible retention portion, wherein the force generating portion comprises a second crosslinked polymer having a different crosslinking amount than the first crosslinked polymer, and wherein the first crosslinked polymer and the second crosslinked polymer are formed from a same prepolymer material.
An apparatus to expand an arch of a patient, the apparatus comprising:
- a polymeric shell including:
- a plurality of teeth receiving structures configured to receive and resiliently reposition a plurality of teeth of the patient from an initial arrangement toward a target, wherein the plurality of teeth receiving structures comprise a first crosslinked polymer;
- a plurality of retention portions including:
- a flexible retention portion integral to the polymeric shell;
- and
- a stiff retention portion integral to the polymeric shell, wherein the stiff retention portion is configured to resist movement of a first of the plurality of teeth while allowing movement of a second plurality of teeth when the apparatus is worn;
- and a force generating portion connected with cross-linking to the polymeric shell, wherein the force generating portion:
- is shaped to span a space between opposing posterior teeth of the patient;
- is configured to apply an expansion force on the arch to expand the arch toward a target distance between the posterior teeth;
- is retained on the polymeric shell by the flexible retention portion;
- and
- comprises a second crosslinked polymer having a different crosslinking amount than the first crosslinked polymer, wherein the first crosslinked polymer and the second crosslinked polymer are formed from a same prepolymer material;
- wherein the plurality of retention portions are crosslinked to the force generating portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.