Orthodontic archwire shaping method and archwire-segment forming templates
OwnerAlexander J. Wildmaninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for creating an orthodontic archform and forming an archwire. The method includes positioning the model teeth in a curved archform and making a graphical representation of the archform. An archwire is superimposed over the graphical representation and archwire-segment forming templates, each having an archwire channel of a predetermined shape, are clamped onto segments of the archwire between the brackets to shape each segment so that the archwire as a whole assumes the desired shape of the archform. The archwire is then formed in that shape by heat treatment or by leaving a streamlined form of the templates on the archwire.
Claims19
A method of forming an orthodontic archwire to fit into archwire slots in a plurality of orthodontic brackets positioned on a patient's teeth to establish a predetermined archform, the method comprising:
- determining a relative position of archwire slots in the brackets such that the archwire slots are positioned in a curved arrangement corresponding to the predetermined archform;
- determining a set of shapes required for segments of the archwire between the brackets to conform the archwire to the curved arrangement of the archform;
- clamping segments of an archwire into archwire-segment forming templates replicating the required set of shapes;
- and
- forming the archwire as it is clamped in the archwire-segment forming templates to shape the archwire overall to the curved arrangement of the archform.
A set of templates for forming an archwire segment, each template comprising:
- a rigid body;
- and
- a channel extending along a side of the body;
- the channel being sized to receive a lengthwise segment of an archwire of predetermined length shaped to bend the archwire segment to a predetermined angle or curve;
- the set of templates including at least two different templates defining different archwire-segment forming shapes.
A template for forming an archwire segment comprising:
- a rigid body;
- and
- a channel extending along a side of the body;
- the channel being sized to receive a lengthwise segment of an archwire to form the segment into the shape of a loop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.