Fabrication of attachment templates and multi-material aligners

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for producing orthodontic appliances are provided. The orthodontic appliance comprises an outer shell comprising a plurality of cavities shaped to receive the patient's teeth and generate one or more of a force or a torque in response to the appliance being worn on the patient's teeth. The orthodontic appliance can comprise an inner structure having stiffness different than a stiffness of the outer shell. The inner structure can be positioned on an inner surface of the outer shell in order to distribute the one or more of a force or a torque to at least one toothreceived within the plurality of cavities.

Description

[0001] cross reference [0002] This application claims U.S. Application Serial No. 15 / 202,342, filed July 5, 2016, U.S. Application Serial No. 15 / 202,348, filed July 5, 2016, U.S. Provisional Application No., filed July 7, 2015 No. 62 / 189,282 and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 189,259, filed July 7, 2015, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. [0003] The subject matter of the following co-pending patent application is related to this application: U.S. Application Serial No. 15 / 202,472, entitled "DIRECTFABRICATION OF ALIGNERS WITH INTERPROXIMAL FORCE COUPLING," filed July 5, 2016 (Attorney Docket No. 22773-855.201) claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 189,263, filed July 7, 2015; (Direct Manufacturing of Aligners for Extended Dental Arches)," U.S. Application Serial No. 15 / 202,452 (Attorney Docket 22773-857.201), which claims U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 189,271 and the benef...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0006] Existing orthodontic methods and devices for moving teeth are not ideal in at least some respects

In some cases, existing orthodontic methods employing aligners with homogeneous and / or continuous material properties may not provide sufficient control over the forces applied to the teeth

For example, existing aligners manufactured from a single material may exhibit less than ideal control of forces applied to subsets of teeth

In some cases, relatively rigid orthodontic appliances may require tighter manufacturing tolerances than ideal, and such manufacturing tolerances may, at least in some cases, adversely affect the accuracy of the applied force

And, in at least some cases, aligners can deform farther away from the teeth being moved, which can make the accuracy of tooth movement less than ideal

[0007] Although attachment templates have been proposed for placing attachments on teeth, existing methods and devices may be more difficult to use than ideal

Also, existing attachment templates may not be as accurate as ideal

Existing methods of manufacturing calibration templates can be more time-consuming and expensive than ideal

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