Apparatus, system, and method for intra-oral distraction

Abstract

According to one representative embodiment, a method for distracting a segment of bone from a source bone includes providing a bone distractor that has a first end portion and a second end portion movable relative to each other. The method further includes coupling the first end portion to the segment of bone and coupling the second end portion to an anchor bone opposing the source bone. Additionally, the method includes actuating the bone distractor to move the first and second end portions closer to each other and pull the segment of bone toward the anchor bone. The method can also include fixing the source bone relative to the anchor bone. Further, the method can include positioning the bone distractor to the sides of the source bone, anchor bone, and a gingival layer covering the bones.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.