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US 11,950,976 B2Granted
Dental appliance etch template
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorMichael Lawrence Fernie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure provides methods, devices, and systems that utilize dental appliance etch templates prior to or during dental treatment. One dental appliance etch template includes a removable shell having one or more cavities formed therein, where the one or more cavities are shaped to receive teeth of a patient, and the shell includes a well, the well including a wafer, where the wafer includes etch material to etch a tooth of the patient.
Claims20
A dental appliance comprising:
- a removeable shell defining one or more cavities that are configured to receive teeth of a patient's dentition;
- and
- a well formed in the removeable shell, the well including a compressible wafer with etch material absorbed therein, wherein the well is arranged to position the compressible wafer at an attachment location on a tooth of the patient's dentition for etching the attachment location for an orthodontic attachment, wherein the well includes an absorbent material positioned adjacent the compressible wafer to catch excess etch material from the compressible wafer.
A dental attachment placement system comprising:
- an etch template configured to fit on a patient's dental arch, the etch template including a well including a compressible wafer with etch material absorbed therein at an attachment location on a tooth of the patient's dental arch for etching the attachment location for an orthodontic attachment, wherein the well includes an absorbent material positioned adjacent the compressible wafer to catch excess etch material from the compressible wafer;
- and
- an attachment template configured to fit on the patient's dental arch, the attachment template configured to align the orthodontic attachment with the attachment location on the tooth.
A method of attaching an orthodontic attachment on a patient's teeth, the method comprising:
- placing an etching template on the patient's dental arch, wherein the etching template includes a well that positions a compressible wafer with etch material absorbed therein at an attachment location on a tooth of the patient's dental arch to etch the attachment location, wherein the well includes an absorbent material positioned adjacent the compressible wafer to catch excess etch material from the compressible wafer;
- placing an attachment template on the patient's dental arch, wherein the attachment template includes the orthodontic attachment and aligns the orthodontic attachment with the etched attachment location;
- and
- attaching the orthodontic attachment to the etched attachment location.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.