Dental device

A method comprising a manufacturing and a fixing of a dental expander having:

• a first bracket member intended to be fixed to a first fixation tooth of a dental arch of a patient;
• a second bracket member intended to be fixed to a second fixation tooth of the dental arch of the patient;
• a transversal active member rigidly connected to the first and second bracket members and configured such that, in a service position in which the expander is fixed to said dental arch, it exerts an action that laterally widens said dental arch;
• the first bracket member being a dental fixation ring having a bottom intended to be placed on an occlusal surface of the first fixation tooth, and a lateral wall intended to encircle said first fixation tooth, the lateral wall being composed of a lingual wall, a vestibular wall and first and second proximal walls,
• said manufacturing having the following successive steps:
• a) a three-dimensional digital model of a dental arch having the first and second fixation teeth, or “arch model”, is generated, by means of an optical scanner;
• b) the arch model and a treatment to be applied to the patient are used as a basis for generating:
• a three-dimensional digital model of the first bracket member, the model of the first bracket member having an inner surface that substantially reproduces a part of the surface of the first fixation tooth, and
• a three-dimensional digital model of the second bracket member, the model of the second bracket member having an inner surface that substantially reproduces a part of the surface of the second fixation tooth, and/or
• a three-dimensional digital model of the active member;
• c) the model of the first bracket member is used as a basis for manufacturing said first bracket member, and/or the model of the second bracket member is used as a basis for manufacturing said second bracket member, and/or the model of the active member is used as a basis for manufacturing said active member the active member being made integral with the first and second bracket members so as to form a one-piece assembly;
• a fixing of said dental fixation ring on the teeth of the patient with glue or with a sealing cement applied to an inner surface of the dental fixation ring and/or to the first fixation tooth receiving said dental fixation ring,
• in which the active member has a shape-memory material or a polymer material deformable under the effect of a stimulus,
• the stimulus for activating the active member being chosen from the group consisting of light radiation, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, sound radiation, a change of the humidity and/or of the acidity and/or of the temperature and/or of the chemical composition of the environment of the member, and
• the shape of the active member and the shape-memory properties being determined according to the treatment that is to be applied to the patient,
• in which, in step b), the model of the first bracket member is defined in such a way that the dental fixation ring resulting from step c) does not have an undercut region.