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US 7,252,506 B2Granted
Arch member for an orthodontic brace
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorMing-Lai Lai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A brace for an orthodontic patient includes a set of appliances fixed to the patient's teeth and an arch member connected to the appliances. The arch member has a series of notches presenting narrowed sections, and the narrowed sections are received in slots of corresponding appliances. As such, the sections of the arch member in regions between adjacent notches are not constrained by the shape of the slots of the appliances. Preferably, the arch member is comprised of an aesthetic polymeric material such as a stain-resistant transparent or translucent material.
Claims10
A brace for an orthodontic patient comprising:
- a set of orthodontic appliances, each appliance having an archwire slot and constructed for connection to a tooth of the patient's dental arch;
- and
- an arch member comprising an elongated polymeric body with an overall, generally “U”-shaped configuration, wherein the body has a plurality of non-coiled enlarged sections and a plurality of narrowed sections that present a plurality of notches that are spaced apart from each other along the length of the body, and wherein the appliances are coupled to the body in locations corresponding to the notches such that each notch receives a corresponding appliance, wherein the enlarged sections have a solid cross-sectional shape, the solid shape having a dimension in an occlusal-gingival direction that is greater than the overall occlusal-gingival height of the archwire slots of the appliances.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.