Orthodontic bracket
AssigneeCeramic Sciences Incorporated
InventorJohn Voudouris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An orthodontic bracket comprising a body having an archwire slot and adapted to be secured to a tooth, and a clip coupled to the body and movable between an open position, permitting access to the archwire slot, and a closed position, inhibiting access to the archwire slot. The clip comprises a base material having recesses formed by laser-ablation, and a coating formed over at least a portion of the base material and over at least one of the recesses.
Claims19
An orthodontic bracket comprising:
- a body having an archwire slot and adapted to be secured to a tooth;
- and
- a clip coupled to the body and movable between an open position, permitting access to the archwire slot, and a closed position, inhibiting access to the archwire slot, wherein the clip comprises a base material having recesses formed by laser-ablation, and a coating formed over at least a portion of the base material and over at least one of the recesses.
A method of making a self-ligating orthodontic bracket, the method comprising:
- creating a body having an archwire slot and adapted to be secured to a tooth;
- creating a clip from a base material;
- creating recesses on the base material using laser ablation;
- applying a coating to at least a portion of the base material to cover at least one of the recesses to create a coated clip;
- and
- attaching the coated clip to the body.
A method of making a clip for a self-ligating orthodontic bracket, the method comprising:
- creating a base from a base material;
- creating recesses on the base material using laser ablation, wherein creating recesses includes directing a plurality of laser shots on an associated location to form each of the recesses;
- and
- applying a coating to at least a portion of the base material to cover at least one of the recesses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.