Orthodontic appliance with lingual retaining groove
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsOliver L. Puttler, John A. Verdouw
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An appliance used in orthodontic treatment includes a retaining groove that is located directly adjacent a base of the appliance. The retaining groove is useful for keeping a wire segment or other item in place and in contact with a body of the appliance so that the item does not detach from the appliance during the course of treatment. The retaining groove is particularly useful for keeping tieback loops and other items having a thread-like configuration in a captive, compact and snug relationship with the appliance.
Claims55
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- a base;
- a body extending outwardly from the base, the body having an occlusal side and a gingival side;
- an elongated archwire passageway extending across the body between the occlusal side and the gingival side for receiving an archwire;
- and
- a groove extending along at least one of the occlusal side and the gingival side of the body, the groove being located adjacent the base and in a lingual direction relative to at least one of the occlusal side and the gingival side, wherein the body extends over the groove in a direction that is approximately perpendicular to a labial-lingual reference axis extending through the center of the appliance.
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- a base;
- a body extending outwardly from the base, the body having an occlusal side and a gingival side;
- an elongated archwire passageway extending across the body between the occlusal side and the gingival side for receiving an archwire;
- and
- a groove for retaining a wire segment or other item in place, the groove extending along at least one of the occlusal side and the gingival side of the body, the groove being located directly adjacent the base and being located in a lingual direction relative to the at least one of the occlusal side and the gingival side, and wherein the at least one of the occlusal side and the gingival side present a shoulder that extends over the groove in a labial direction.
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- a base;
- a body extending outwardly from the base, the body having an occlusal side and a gingival side;
- and
- an elongated archwire passageway extending across the body between the occlusal side and the gingival side for receiving an archwire, wherein the body includes a neck portion that is located directly adjacent the base and is located in a lingual direction relative to the occlusal side and the gingival side, wherein the neck portion has a certain overall width in an occlusal-gingival direction, and wherein the body has an overall width from the occlusal side to the gingival side that is greater than the overall width of the neck portion.
An orthodontic appliance comprising:
- a base;
- a body extending outwardly from the base, the body having an occlusal side and a gingival side;
- an elongated archwire passageway extending across the body for receiving an archwire, the archwire passageway having a generally flat lingual side;
- and
- a groove extending along the occlusal side and the gingival side of the body, wherein the groove is located directly adjacent the base and has a labial side, and wherein the labial side of the groove extends in a direction that is approximately parallel to the lingual side of the archwire passageway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.