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US 6,705,863 B2Granted
Attachment devices and methods for a dental appliance
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsLoc X. Phan, Muhammad Z. Chishti, Ross J. Miller
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsLoc X. Phan, Muhammad Z. Chishti, Ross J. Miller
Estimating the term…
The present invention provides improved systems and methods for removably attaching a dental positioning appliance to the dental features of a patient during orthodontic treatment. These appliances function by applying force to specific surfaces of the teeth or dental features to cause directed movement. The application of force is improved by the use of one or more attachment devices which may be positioned on the teeth or dental features to provide the appropriate physical features. Specific design and location of these attachment devices may provide newly achievable and/or more effective repositioning forces, anchoring ability and appliance retention. The systems and methods of the present invention provide the design, production and use of such attachment devices with removable dental positioning appliances in orthodontic treatment.
A method for producing digital models of dental positioning appliances, said method comprising:
A set of dental positioning appliances, said set comprising a plurality of thin shell removable appliances representing successive stages of an orthodontic treatment, wherein at least some of said appliances has a receptacle positioned to receive an attachment device on a patient's teeth when each of said appliances is successfully worn over the teeth during the orthodontic treatment.
An improved method for repositioning teeth using appliances comprising polymeric shells having cavities shaped to receive and resiliently reposition teeth to a final tooth arrangement, wherein the improvement comprises:
A method for fabricating a dental positioning appliance, said method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.