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US 9,844,421 B2Granted
Tabbed dental appliance
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsJon F. Moss, Rene M. Sterental
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments include dental appliances, dental appliance systems, and methods of making and using such appliances. In one embodiment, a dental appliance includes a number of tooth apertures for the placement of teeth therein and a tab representing a position of a tooth that has not fully erupted and oriented to be received over the position of the tooth that has not fully erupted.
Claims20
A dental appliance for use with a tooth that is not fully erupted, comprising a shell including:
- a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and apply force to reposition teeth of a jaw of a patient from one arrangement to a successive arrangement, wherein the number of tooth apertures include side surfaces that are configured to extend substantially to the patient's gumline;
- and
- a tab having a length to span across at least a portion of a coronal surface of the tooth, in a distal direction, when fully erupted, wherein the tab includes:
- a tooth contact surface shaped to mate with the portion of the coronal surface of the tooth and positioned to receive the coronal surface of the tooth when the tooth is fully erupted;
- a surface opposite the tooth contact surface shaped to mate with an outer surface of a second appliance or a coronal surface of one or more teeth on an opposite jaw of the patient;
- and
- side surfaces that are configured not to extend substantially to the patient's gumline when the tooth has fully erupted.
4 more elements
A dental appliance system for use with teeth that are not fully erupted, comprising:
- a first shell having cavity geometry apertures configured to receive and apply force to reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement and include side surfaces that are configured to extend substantially to the patient's gumline, and wherein the first shell includes:
- a first tab having a first length to span across at least a portion of a coronal surface of a first tooth, in a distal direction, when fully erupted, wherein the first tab includes:
- a tooth contact surface shaped to mate with the portion of the coronal surface of the first tooth;
- a surface opposite the tooth contact surface shaped to mate with an outer surface of a second shell, wherein the tooth contact surface of the first tab is positioned to receive the portion of the coronal surface of the first tooth when the tooth is fully erupted;
- and
- side surfaces that are configured not to extend substantially to the patient's gumline when the tooth has fully erupted;
- and
- the second shell not connected to the first shell having cavity geometry apertures configured to receive and apply force to reposition teeth of the second jaw from one arrangement to a successive arrangement, wherein the shell includes:
- a second tab having a second length to span across at least a portion of a coronal surface of a second tooth, in a distal direction, when fully erupted.
6 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable to:
- fabricate a first and a second dental appliance of a number of appliances, configured to be worn in succession by a patient, wherein the first and the second dental appliances include:
- a shell having a plurality of individual tooth apertures configured to receive and apply force to reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement and include side surfaces that are configured to extend substantially to the patient's gumline;
- wherein the shell of the first dental appliance includes a tab of a first length that spans across at least a portion of a coronal surface of a first tooth, in a distal direction, when fully erupted and includes side surfaces that are configured not to extend substantially to the patient's gumline when the first tooth has fully erupted;
- wherein the tab includes a tooth contact surface shaped to mate with the portion of the coronal surface of the first tooth and a surface opposite the tooth contact surface shaped to mate with the outer surface of the second appliance or a coronal surface of one or more teeth on an opposite jaw of the patient;
- wherein the tooth contact surface of the tab of the first length is positioned to receive the portion of the coronal surface of the first tooth when the tooth is fully erupted;
- and
- wherein the shell of the second dental appliance includes a tab of a second length greater than the first length having a tooth contact surface shaped to mate with a portion of a coronal surface of a second tooth that is fully erupted and wherein the tab of the second length is positioned to receive the portion of the coronal surface of the second tooth.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.