Additively manufactured appliances with cellular structures
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsYaser Shanjani, Jun Sato, Ryan Kimura
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Abstract
Intraoral appliances and associated systems are provided. In some embodiments, an intraoral appliance includes a 3D printed body composed of a plurality of additively manufactured layers. The 3D printed body can include a first cellular structure located at one or more first areas of the intraoral appliance, the first cellular structure corresponding to a first stiffness, and a second cellular structure located at one or more remainder areas of the intraoral appliance, the second cellular structure corresponding to a second stiffness less than the first stiffness.
Claims21
(canceled)
An intraoral appliance comprising:
- a 3D printed body composed of a plurality of additively manufactured layers, wherein the 3D printed body comprises:
- a first cellular structure located at one or more first areas of the intraoral appliance, the first cellular structure corresponding to a first stiffness, and
- a second cellular structure located at one or more remainder areas of the intraoral appliance, the second cellular structure corresponding to a second stiffness less than the first stiffness.
An intraoral appliance comprising:
- an additively manufactured polymeric shell composed of a plurality of additively manufactured polymeric layers, wherein the additively manufactured polymeric shell comprises:
- a first network of interconnected cells located at one or more first areas of the intraoral appliance, the first network of interconnected cells corresponding to a first stiffness, and
- a second network of interconnected cells located at one or more remainder areas of the intraoral appliance, the second network of interconnected cells corresponding to a second stiffness less than the first stiffness.
A system comprising:
- a plurality of additively manufactured intraoral appliances that are configured to be sequentially worn on a patient's dentition to reposition one or more teeth from an initial arrangement toward a target arrangement, wherein at least one of the plurality of additively manufactured intraoral appliances comprises:
- an appliance body composed of a plurality of additively manufactured layers, the plurality of additively manufactured layers forming:
- a first cellular structure located at one or more first areas of the appliance body, the first network of interconnected cells corresponding to a first stiffness, and
- a second cellular structure located at one or more remainder areas of the appliance body, the second network of interconnected cells corresponding to a second stiffness less than the first stiffness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.