# US 12,213,859 B2 · Clear plastic aligner with configurable protrusions for anterior or open bite treatment and mattress plastic material for invisible aligners > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,213,859 B2 - Document ID: US12213859B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/123,906 - Filed: 2023-03-20 - Published: 2024-01-25 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-03 - Assignees: Spartan Orthodontics Inc. - Applicants: Spartan Orthodontics Inc. - Inventors: John Voudouris; John Dean Voudouris - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12213859B2 ## CPC - A61C 7/08: Mouthpiece-type retainers {or positioners, e.g. for both the lower and upper arch (arch-shaped medicament applicators for teeth or gums A61C19/063; mouthguards for protecting the teeth of sportsmen A63B71/085)} - A61C 7/00: Orthodontics, i.e. obtaining or maintaining the desired position of teeth, e.g. by straightening, evening, regulating, separating, or by correcting malocclusions - A61C: DENTISTRY; APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR ORAL OR DENTAL HYGIENE (non-driven toothbrushes A46B; {tongue scrapers A61B17/24;} preparations for dentistry A61K6/00; preparations for cleaning the teeth or mouth A61K8/00, A61Q11/00) ## Abstract Protrusions or holes with jagged edges formed on the lingual side of invisible aligner trays are provided. The protrusions or holes include two components and serve to irritate the tongue causing it to retract away from the incisors thus eliminating intruding force otherwise exerted by the tongue. A clear corrugated material is provided which is suited for making the aligner trays having the protrusions which otherwise would be difficult with standard thick material used. The lingual side protrusions are added by computer to the impressions taken from a patient's teeth such that the protrusions are formed on the dental model used to make the aligner trays. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An orthodontic device for anterior or lateral open bite treatment, comprising: a plastic aligner tray having a labial-buccal side, a lingual side, and a socket shaped to engage a patient's teeth formed between the lingual side and the labial side; and a first component formed on the aligner tray on the lingual side and facing the patient's tongue; a second component formed from the first component; wherein the first component is configurable to form the second component for irritating the patient's tongue for preventing the tongue from thrusting against the incisors causing intrusion, the second component comprising at least one protrusion, the at least one protrusion comprising a lingual-facing pointed edge, wherein the at least one protrusion is selected from the group consisting of: a star-shaped protrusion, a diamond shaped protrusion, a trapezoidal shaped protrusion, and a square shaped protrusion. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The orthodontic device of claim 1, wherein the star-shaped protrusion comprises a plurality of wing members extending radially from a center thereof. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The orthodontic device of claim 2, wherein the star-shaped protrusion comprises a wedge member on a labial surface of at least one of the plurality of wing members. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The orthodontic device of claim 1, wherein the star-shaped protrusion comprises a horn member at a center thereof extending substantially lingually towards the patient's tongue. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The orthodontic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion is diamond-shaped. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The orthodontic device of claim 5, wherein the diamond-shaped protrusion comprises the lingual-facing pointed edge. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The orthodontic device of claim 5, wherein the diamond-shaped protrusion comprises a plurality of side pointed edges. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The orthodontic device of claim 1, wherein the second component comprises at least one hole formed on the lingual side of the aligner tray, the at least one hole having a plurality of jagged edges. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) A flexible clear corrugated aligner material for use in making the orthodontic device of claim 1, the material comprising a plurality of parallel corrugated sections joined to one another for providing flexibility when formed around a dental model, wherein the corrugated sections are flattened prior to thermal forming over a resin or plaster dental model. ### Claim 10 A process for making a plastic aligner tray, the process comprising: obtaining impressions of a patient's teeth by creating an impression mold, where the impression mold is digitally scanned and feeding data corresponding to the impressions into a computer for generating a computer dental model of the patient's teeth; modifying the computer dental model to add a protrusion in software to the computer dental model corresponding to a first component of the aligner tray, wherein the first component is configurable to form a second component; generating a physical dental model of a patient's teeth, including a physical protrusion corresponding to the protrusion in software; preparing an aligner tray on the physical dental model such that the aligner tray contains the first component; and configuring the first component to add the second component. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The process of claim 10, wherein said configuring comprises puncturing the first component to add the second component. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The process of claim 11, wherein the second component comprises one or more of: star-shaped protrusions, cone-shaped protrusions, diamond-shaped protrusions, trapezoidal protrusions, triangular-shaped protrusions or square-shaped protrusions.