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US 12,090,025 B2Granted
Orthodontic appliance with non-sliding archform
AssigneeSwift Health Systems Inc.
InventorsTodd Oda, Alston Chung, Andres Rodriguez, Farrokh Farzin-Nia
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Abstract
An orthodontic bracket and archform system that uses friction-free mechanics are disclosed. The archform can have a male fastener that can be retained within an orthodontic bracket. The orthodontic bracket can have varying locking mechanism, such as deflectable tabs, springs, locking pins, and others, that can cooperate with features of the male fastener to prevent sliding between the archform and the bracket.
Claims20
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- a plurality of orthodontic brackets, wherein each orthodontic bracket of the plurality of orthodontic brackets is configured to be disposed on a tooth of a patient, each orthodontic bracket comprising:
- a slot;
- a stop disposed on an occlusal side of the slot;
- and
- a retainer disposed on a gingival side of the slot, the retainer comprising a spring;
- an archform configured to move teeth of the patient from a first configuration to a second configuration, the archform comprising:
- a plurality of connectors, wherein each connector of the plurality of connectors is configured to be placed within the slot between the stop and the retainer of one orthodontic bracket of the plurality of orthodontic brackets such that the spring applies a force against the connector to push the connector against the stop, securing at least a portion of the connector behind the stop and the retainer in a locked configuration;
- and
- a plurality of interproximal structures, wherein at least one interproximal structure of the plurality of interproximal structures is positioned between at least some adjacent connectors of the plurality of connectors;
- wherein the plurality of connectors do not slide in a mesial-distal direction relative to the plurality of orthodontic brackets with the plurality of connectors in locked configurations within the slots of the plurality of orthodontic brackets;
- and
- wherein the plurality of interproximal structures are configured to apply a force to adjacent connectors of the plurality of connectors to move one or more teeth of the patient.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.