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US 11,642,194 B2Granted
Multi-material aligners
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsAllen Boronkay, Jihua Cheng, Fuming Wu, Yan Chen, John Morton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An orthodontic appliance may include an outer shell having a plurality of cavities shaped to receive the patient's teeth and generate one or more of a force or a torque in response to the appliance being worn on the patient's teeth. The orthodontic appliance may also include an inner structure having a stiffness different than a stiffness of the outer shell. The inner structure can be positioned on an inner surface of the outer shell in order to distribute the one or more of a force or a torque to at least one tooth received within the plurality of cavities.
Claims10
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- an additively manufactured outer shell comprising:
- a first polymeric material having a first stiffness, the first polymeric material forming a plurality of interconnected teeth-receiving cavities shaped to receive and resiliently reposition a patient's teeth,
- an outer surface, and
- an inner surface opposite the outer surface, the inner surface having an inner surface profile shaped to receive and exert one or more of a force or a torque on the patient's teeth to move the patient's teeth from a first arrangement toward a second arrangement,
- wherein the inner surface comprises an additively manufactured protrusion integral to the inner surface and extending from a buccal or lingual portion of the inner surface towards a corresponding buccal or lingual surface of the patient's teeth, wherein the protrusion integral to the inner surface produces a localized increase in the one or more of the force or the torque on the patient's teeth, and
- an additively manufactured inner structure comprising a second polymeric material having a second stiffness less than the first stiffness of the first polymeric material of the additively manufactured outer shell, the additively manufactured inner structure being positioned between the corresponding buccal or lingual surface of the patient's teeth and the protrusion, the additively manufactured inner structure configured to control application of the one or more of the force or the torque to the patient's teeth by the inner surface of the outer shell,
- wherein the additively manufactured outer shell and the additively manufactured inner structure are integrally formed from a plurality of appliance cross-sections that are successively built up via an additive manufacturing process, and wherein at least some of the appliance cross-sections include a portion of the additively manufactured outer shell fabricated from the first polymeric material together with a portion of the additively manufactured inner structure fabricated from the second polymeric material.
4 more elements
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- an additively manufactured outer shell comprising:
- a first polymeric material having a first stiffness, the first polymeric material forming a plurality of interconnected teeth-receiving cavities, is shaped to receive and resiliently reposition a patient's teeth,
- an outer surface, and
- an inner surface opposite the outer surface, the inner surface having an inner surface profile shaped to receive and exert one or more of a force or a torque on the patient's teeth to move the patient's teeth from a first arrangement toward a second arrangement,
- wherein the inner surface comprises an additively manufactured protrusion integral to the inner surface and extending from a buccal or lingual portion of the inner surface towards a corresponding buccal or lingual surface of the patient's teeth, wherein the protrusion integral to the inner surface produces a localized increase in the one or more of the force or the torque to the patient's teeth;
- and
- means for controlling application of the one or more of the force or the torque to the patient's teeth by the inner surface of the additively manufactured outer shell, the means for controlling comprising a second polymeric material having a second stiffness less than the first stiffness of the additively manufactured outer shell, the means for controlling positioned between the corresponding buccal or lingual surface of the patient's teeth and the protrusion on the inner surface of the additively manufactured outer shell,
- wherein the additively manufactured outer shell and the means for controlling are integrally formed from a plurality of appliance cross-sections that are successively built up via an additive manufacturing process, and wherein at least some of the appliance cross-sections include a portion of the additively manufactured outer shell fabricated from the first polymeric material together with a portion of the means for controlling fabricated from the second polymeric material.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.