| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 029896100 | Dental appliance making | 47 |
| 20090000121 | Bending tool and method of manufacture - This invention relates to bending tool and to a method of manufacturing a bending tool, in particular to a bending tool for bending a dental pin. The bending tool comprises a shaft with two elements projecting from the shaft, the elements having facing surfaces, the facing surfaces being curved, the facing surfaces being separated by a distance at least as great as the diameter of the dental pin. The method comprises the steps of providing a shaft, drilling two holes into the end of the shaft, the holes being separated by a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the dental pin, and securing an element in each of the drilled holes. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090007431 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DENTAL INSTRUMENTS FROM SUPER-ELASTIC ALLOYS - Dental instruments and appliances are manufactured from a superelastic alloy, which includes atoms from the group IV | 01-08-2009 |
| 20100058588 | Machining of Ceramic Materials - Milling strategies for machining dental ceramic materials are provided that reduce milling time while maintaining strength, accuracy and marginal integrity. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100192375 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DENTIST TOOL - Method for producing a dentist tool formed by an overlay to be used by a dentist in removing tooth structure, said method comprising the steps of: acquiring three-dimensional data relating to a shape of a tooth and at least a part of a neighbouring tooth;
| 08-05-2010 |
| 20110239464 | DENTAL PROSTHESIS MANUFACTURING MACHINE - A dental prosthesis manufacturing machine is disclosed. The machine includes two spindles each having a roughing tool and a finishing tool, a workpiece holder for holding a workpiece which forms the dental prosthesis, and a base supporting the two spindles and the workpiece holder. The machine is capable of simply alternating the roughing tool with the finishing tool according to the accuracy required when the workpiece is machined. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110252645 | DPA Automated Assembly and Packaging Machine - This patent relates to a machine that automatically assembles, inspects, and packages disposable prophylaxis angles. The machine includes a movable table including a plurality of fixtures on which angle components are assembled and the assembled angles are inspected. The movable table is surrounded by a number of stations, each of which performs a different operation of the assembly and inspection procedure. Feeders automatically supply the angle components to their respective stations for assembly. Angles that are incorrectly assembled are automatically rejected. Properly assembled angles are automatically sealed in individual bags. Individually bagged angles are counted into batches by the machine and automatically sealed into cartons. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110271529 | ENDODONTIC ROTARY INSTRUMENTS MADE OF SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS IN THEIR MARTENSITIC STATE AND MANUFACTURING METHODS - A method for manufacturing a non-superelastic rotary file comprising the steps of: providing a superelastic rotary file having an austenite finish temperature; and heating the superelastic rotary file to a temperature of at least about 300° C. for a time period of at least about 5 minutes to alter the austenite finish temperature thereby forming the non-superelastic rotary file; wherein the altered austenite finish temperature of the non-superelastic rotary file is greater than about 25° C. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20120090178 | Thermoplastic/Thermoset Dental Restorative Prosthetics - The present invention is dental prosthetics manufactured from polymers rather than ceramics. Various plastics are disclosed for use in making said prosthetics, as are techniques for improving plastic performance in the prosthetics. The prosthetics are first injection molded into pre-set blocks for use in milling machines that dentists use or custom fit prosthetics with less wait time and less cost. Alternatively, an electronic model may be produced using image scanners. The electronic model may then be downloaded into rapid prototyping machine and a prosthetic therein built. Use of these methods may create various monolithic prosthetics, including multi-tooth prosthetics and whole bridges. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120110851 | Systems and methods for preparing dental restorations - Improved systems and methods for producing dental restorations and ceramic materials for such restorations are disclosed. Optical properties, preferably including color and translucence characteristics, of a tooth or teeth of a patient are measured with a shade measuring instrument. The tooth to be restored is prepared, and a physical or virtual dental impression is created. A prescription for the restoration, which typically includes color, translucence and thickness information, is sent to the restoration fabrication facility either electronically or physically. A recipe and/or a mixture of ceramics are generated for the restoration, with multiple layers being specified, based on the measured optical properties. The recipe algorithm may adapt, or process checks may be performed, based on measurements of fabricated layers. Preferably, dental ceramics are specified to bracket the region of color space relevant to human teeth, and a reduced set of ceramic materials are manufactured and distributed. Based on measured optical characteristics of the ceramic materials, recipes and/or material mixtures are specified or prepared for the restoration. A virtual impression data file may be transmitted to the laboratory instead of a physical impression. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120174404 | Method For Producing Tooth Parts From Dental Metal Powder - The invention relates to a method for producing tooth parts from dental-grade metal powder, wherein existing CAD/CAM milling machines can be used. The essential process steps consist of: a) preparing a slurry from dental-grade metal powder, b) casting the slurry into a mold, c) drawing out (drying) suspension liquid (water) until a mechanically stable blank is obtained, d) milling the blank into the desired shape, e) oxygen-free sintering of the tooth parts milled from the blank. Because the blank is still present as a green body, milling does not place great demands on the milling machine in terms of mechanical stability and dust development. As a result, the operating speed and the service lives of customary milling machines are substantially increased. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120272526 | Dental and Medical Instruments Comprising Titanium - Endodontic instruments for use in performing root canal therapy on a tooth are disclosed. In one form, the instruments include an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank comprises a titanium alloy, and the shank is prepared by heat-treating the shank at a temperature above 25° C. in an atmosphere consisting essentially of a gas unreactive with the shank. In another form, the endodontic instruments have an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank consists essentially of a titanium alloy selected from alpha-titanium alloys, beta-titanium alloys, and alpha-beta-titanium alloys. The instruments solve the problems encountered when cleaning and enlarging a curved root canal. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120285019 | METHODS FOR MAKING LAYERED DENTAL APPLIANCES - Method for making a layered dental restoration, the method includes providing a solid structure (e.g., a die or a dental core, such as a fully sintered ceramic dental core) having a desired outer shape, and applying a first slurry to the solid structure to form a first free form layer on the solid structure. The method further include solidifying the first free form layer on the solid structure, and machining the solidified first free form layer to a desired shape to form a first article comprising the solid structure and a first shaped layer. The method can further include applying, solidifying, and machining a second layer in a similar way to form a second article comprising the solid structure, the first shaped layer, and a second shaped layer. The free form layers need not be exposed to a high temperature prior to being machined. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120291284 | Dental Prosthesis Manufacturing Aids - Dental prostheses may be manufactured based on electronic models of the prostheses. Manufacturing aids may be used to check manufacturing quality of the dental prosthesis and components thereof. For example, a jig may be used during and after the manufacture of the dental prostheses and systems and methods for using the same. A customized tooth die may be designed and fabricated to fit a dental prosthesis or components thereof in a jig for inspection. A customized jig may be designed and fabricated for inspecting a dental prosthesis or components thereof throughout the manufacturing process. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120317813 | Dental Implant and Method for Manufacturing Dental Implant - In a method for manufacturing a dental implant including an abutment, the abutment is manufactured through steps including a titanium molded body production step for molding a titanium molded body composition to obtain a titanium molded body having one of male and female thread portions, a ceramic molded body production step for molding a ceramic molded body composition to obtain a ceramic molded body having the other thread portion which makes thread coupling with the one thread portion, an assembling step for assembling the titanium molded body and the ceramic molded body together so that the one thread portion makes thread coupling with the other thread portion, to obtain an assembled body, a degreasing step for degreasing the assembled body, and a sintering step for sintering the assembled body thus degreased. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324731 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAKING DENTAL RESTORATIONS - A system for making a dental restoration, comprising a 3D digitizer for producing a 3D model digital representation of a dental restoration model, a computer in communication with the 3D digitizer and capable of creating a dental restoration milling trajectory for a selected block of given dimension and given dental restoration material, based on the 3D model, and a laser milling apparatus in communication with the computer and capable of laser milling the dental restoration from the selected block positioned therein using the milling trajectory created by the computer. The laser milling apparatus includes one or more sensor for continuously monitoring the laser milling of the selected block and to provide feedback to the computer such that the milling trajectory is continuously adjusted by the computer using the feedback from the one or more sensor. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130025128 | Dental Appliance On-Line Ordering Including Display Of End Product Image And Mold Three-Dimensional Scanning For Digital Transmission - A method for on-line manufacturing of a dental appliance for the mouth of a patient, includes the steps providing a menu of questions to a user soliciting specifying information for specifying a manufacturing process to manufacture the dental appliance for the patient and producing a dental model of said mouth of said patient. The method also requires transmitting by said user said specifying information to a first manufacturing laboratory by way of the internet to create a user order for said dental appliance and transmitting said dental model by said user to said first manufacturing laboratory. The dental appliance is manufactured by said first manufacturing laboratory in accordance with said transmitted specifying information and said transmitted model to provide a manufactured dental appliance. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130081271 | Method of Making Self-Ligating Orthodontic Brackets and Component Parts - A method of making a plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof, in accordance with the principles of the invention, includes the steps of: (a) providing, in electronic form to or within an additive manufacturing system, a three-dimensional model of each of a plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof; (b) forming a layer of particles, the particles having an average particle size of about 10 microns or less, the layer of particles having a depth of about 20 microns or less; (c) applying energy to a plurality of designated locations of the layer of particles in accordance with the three-dimensional model, thereby joining the particles together at each of the plurality of designated locations, the joined particles at each designated location being a layer of one of the plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof or support structure; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof has been formed. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130081272 | METHODS OF MAKING MULTI-CHROMATIC DENTAL APPLIANCES - A method of making a multi-chromatic dental appliance. A first article can be formed of a first material based on a first digital surface representation having a desired outer shape of the dental appliance. A portion of the first article can then be removed to form an outer layer of the dental appliance comprising a cavity dimensioned to accommodate an inner layer. A second article can be formed by filling the cavity of the first article with a second material. The second material can have at least one different optical property than the first material. The second article can be further processed, as desired. For example, a desired inner shape of the dental appliance can be formed in the second article. Such a desired inner shape can be based on a second digital surface representation of a dental object configured to receive the dental appliance. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130125398 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CUSTOMIZED ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE, AND APPLIANCE THUS PRODUCED - A method of producing a customized orthodontic appliance for treating a patient where the appliance includes at least one orthodontic arch and a plurality of elements each including a bracket provided with at least one slot in which said orthodontic arch can be inserted. Each bracket being configured to be placed on a base intended to be placed on a posterior face of a tooth. The method includes individual numerical design of said bases after forming a model representing the dental arch and the faces of the teeth to which said bases are to be fixed in the corrected position. At least some of said bases are numerically designed and manufactured using rapid prototyping. A mass-produced bracket is fixed to each of said bases. An orthodontic arch is numerically designed and manufactured so that it follows the curvature of the dental arch in the corrected position. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130167380 | DENTAL PROSTHESIS AND METHOD OF ITS PRODUCTION UTILIZING STANDARDIZED FRAMEWORK KEYS AND MATCHING PREMANUFACTURED TEETH - A system including a method and associated structures creates efficiencies in the manufacture of prosthetic tooth support frameworks. Pre-manufactured teeth with matching internal keys are used in the setup of a patient prototype. Each key includes a shaft, a cervical platform, a retention knob and preferably at least one channel for the expulsion of excess adhesive fluid. The cervical platforms are shaped to provide intimate contact with a base of their respective tooth. The same tooth/key pairs are then used to make a framework pattern from the setup positioning. The pattern can be cast or scanned for direct machining to produce the finished framework. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130180110 | METHODS FOR MAKING LAYERED DENTAL APPLIANCES - Methods for making a layered dental appliance. Some methods of the present disclosure can include providing a solid structure (e.g., a die or a dental core, such as a fully sintered ceramic dental core) having a desired outer shape, and applying a slurry to the solid structure to form a first free form layer on the solid structure. The slurry can include at least one of a glass and a glass ceramic. The method can further include firing the first free form layer on the solid structure, and machining the fired first free form layer to a desired shape to form a first article comprising the solid structure and a first shaped layer. Some methods can further include additional applying, firing, and machining steps to achieve a resulting dental appliance having a desired number of layers. Some methods can include removing the solid structure. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130326878 | PRODUCTION OF INDIVIDUAL DENTAL PROSTHESES VIA CAD/CAM AND RAPID MANUFACTURING / RAPID PROTOTYPING BASED ON DATA OF THE SITUATION IN THE MOUTH OBTAINED BY DIGITAL MEANS | 12-12-2013 |
| 20140026419 | SURGICAL GUIDE FABRICATION - A digital model of a dental implant site can be modified to impart various features aligned to a trajectory for a planned drilling procedure. An object fabricated from the modified model can then be used as a mold to vacuum form or otherwise fabricate a drill guide for the drilling procedure. Numerous variations are possible to fabricate on-surface and off-surface guides, and/or thin layer guides or tube guides suitable for use in dental surgery. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140144022 | Dental and Medical Instruments Comprising Titanium - Endodontic instruments for use in performing root canal therapy on a tooth are disclosed. In one form, the instruments include an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank comprises a titanium alloy, and the shank is prepared by heat-treating the shank at a temperature above 25° C. in an atmosphere consisting essentially of a gas unreactive with the shank. In another form, the endodontic instruments have an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank consists essentially of a titanium alloy selected from alpha-titanium alloys, beta-titanium alloys, and alpha-beta-titanium alloys. The instruments solve the problems encountered when cleaning and enlarging a curved root canal. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140250689 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING A DENTAL COMPONENT - The present disclosure relates to a method and device for producing a dental component. The method includes: a) providing a piece of material attached to or held by a first holder; b) shaping the piece of material to form the dental component and at least one support pin maintaining the dental component attached to the first holder or the initial piece of material; c) engaging a second holder to the dental component while the dental component still is attached to the first holder or the initial piece of material via the at least one support pin; and d) removing the at least one support pin from the dental component while the dental component is engaged by the second holder. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140250690 | INCREMENTAL MANDIBULAR ADVANCEMENT - A plurality of non-adjustable mandibular repositioning devices (MRDs) providing incremental advancement are prescribed and manufactured for a patient. A patient's mouth and teeth and other areas may be measured and modeled, for example, using an intra-oral three-dimensional modeling method. A series of MRDs may be manufactured such that each MRD repositions the mandible a different amount. A patient uses the first MRD for a first period of time, and uses one or more of the remaining MRDs in succession to provide mandibular advancement. The series of MRDs are not adjusted or installed by a health professional, making each MRD usage less expensive. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140317930 | MILLING BLOCK, METHOD FOR PRODUCING PARTIAL OR TOTAL PROSTHESES, AND COMPLETE MILLING BLOCK SYSTEM - Embodiments relate to a milling block for producing partial or total prostheses, comprising a prosthesis base to be processed according to the shape of the jaw, on which synthetically moulded teeth, preferably a full set of teeth, are provided, a milling block system consisting of a first milling block for the upper set of teeth and a second milling block for the lower set of teeth, and a method for producing partial or total prostheses. | 10-30-2014 |
| 20150068041 | DISPOSABLE PROPHYLAXIS ANGLE WITH IMPROVED GEAR RETAINER - An example method of assembling a prophylaxis angle includes inserting a drive gear into a first axial bore defined within a neck of an angle body, the drive gear having a drive gear head and a locking flange axially-offset from the drive gear head. A driven gear is inserted into a second axial bore defined within a head of the angle body, the first and second axial bores being angularly-offset from each other and communicating at an intersection in the angle body. The body defines an opening that spans contiguous portions of both the neck and the head. The drive gear is coupled to the driven gear such that rotation of one rotates the other. A gear retainer is then installed on the head, the gear retainer having an annular body that defines an inner circumferential surface that extends about an outer surface of the head. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150089810 | Dental and Medical Instruments Comprising Titanium - Endodontic instruments for use in performing root canal therapy on a tooth are disclosed. In one form, the instruments include an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank comprises a titanium alloy, and the shank is prepared by heat-treating the shank at a temperature above 25° C. in an atmosphere consisting essentially of a gas unreactive with the shank. In another form, the endodontic instruments have an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank consists essentially of a titanium alloy selected from alpha-titanium alloys, beta-titanium alloys, and alpha-beta-titanium alloys. The instruments solve the problems encountered when cleaning and enlarging a curved root canal. | 04-02-2015 |
| 20150289956 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ONE-PIECE DENTAL IMPLANT - There is provided a method for manufacturing a one-piece dental implant having a ceramic abutment and a titanium or titanium alloy implant fixture firmly adhesively fixed to each other. A one-piece dental implant having an abutment | 10-15-2015 |
| 20160022391 | PROSTHESIS - A prosthesis that contains zirconia and supplements a defective portion of a natural bone, and that is changed to a color approximate to that of the natural bone by a heat treatment after a γ-ray sterilization treatment. The color approximate to that of the natural bone has an L* value of 60 to 90, an a* value of −5 to 10, and a b* value of −5 to 10 in the L*a*b* color space. The highest temperature in the heat treatment is 100° C. to 300° C. The prosthesis is a fixture of a dental implant embedded into and bonded to a natural bone, an abutment, an implant crown, and the like. | 01-28-2016 |
| 20160067015 | ABUTMENT FOR IMPLANT - An abutment connecting a crown that forms an external form of an artificial tooth to a fixture embedded in a gum of a human, having a body, a combination portion formed at an end of the body and combined with the fixture, a threaded portion formed at the body and penetrating through the body, a fixing screw being inserted into the threaded portion to couple the body to a processing device or a jig, a coupling hole formed at the body and penetrating through the body, a coupling unit being inserted into the coupling hole to connect the body and the fixture, and a sectional surface formed at an opposite portion to the combination portion and connected to the processing device or the jig, to position the body in the processing device or in the jig when the body is coupled to the processing device or the jig. | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160067017 | BLANK WITH ENCODING AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A MOLDED DENTAL COMPONENT - A method for producing a dental shaped body from a blank that has a corpus of tooth restoration material by a tool adapted to remove the material. To detect a position of the corpus inserted in a machining device, contact scanning is performed on the blank by the tool. At least one dimension of the blank corpus is detected, and the machining tool is prepositioned for a contacting operation according to the detected at least one dimension of the blank corpus. | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160143717 | A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE MANUFACTURING OF AN ORAL TEMPLATE FROM A 3D DIGITAL DATA - The present invention relates to a method for the manufacturing of an oral template from a 3D digital data, such that an essentially optimal restoration process of the original structure and functionality of a patient's oral cavity become applicable, comprising: a) prior to a dental treatment, recording and digitizing a first three-dimensional (3D) data that represents the original anatomical structure of at least one tooth within the oral cavity of a patient, for generating a first virtual model that reflects the original anatomical structure of said at least one tooth (i.e., the virtual model of the original tooth); b) processing said first 3D data for generating a second virtual model that reflects the form of said at least one tooth after applying an optimal treatment as defined by medical practice parameters (i.e., the virtual model of an optimal treated tooth); c) generating a third virtual model of a dental template to be mounted on top of said at least one tooth according to said first and second virtual models, wherein said dental template includes guiding paths for achieving an optimal dental treatment as defined by the medical practice parameters (i.e., virtual model of the dental template); and d) manufacturing said dental template according to said third virtual model, such that a dental treatment can be applied to said at least one tooth with a dental tool via the guiding paths of said template whenever said dental template is mounted on top of said at least one tooth, such that after finishing applying the dental treatment to the at least one tooth with the dental template an essentially optimal treated tooth is obtained. | 05-26-2016 |
| 20160184061 | A Method For Manufacturing A Dental Prosthesis - This invention concerns a manufacturing method of a dental prosthesis, with specific reference to single-tooth prostheses. In particular, this invention deals with a manufacturing method a dental prosthesis or part thereof, that includes a milling step of a block ( | 06-30-2016 |
| 20160193020 | HOLDING DEVICE FOR AN ABUTMENT BLANK, SYSTEM COMPRISING THE RETAINER AND THE ABUTMENT BLANK, AND METHOD FOR RETAINING AND MACHINING THE ABUTMENT BLANK | 07-07-2016 |
| 029896110 | Orthodontic device making | 11 |
| 20090019698 | METHODS OF MANUFACTURING AN ADHESIVE PRECOATED ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE - Methods of manufacturing an adhesive precoated orthodontic appliance are carried out by determining a quantity of the adhesive that is representative of a norm for bonding a particular appliance to a tooth that is representative of a patient population. An electronic template is provided to an orthodontic practitioner that includes data representing the norm. The practitioner may then elect to instruct the manufacturer to ship the selected appliance to the practitioner with a quantity of adhesive pre-applied to the appliance that differs from the determined norm. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090113714 | Orthodontic treatment aligners based on CT data - A system and method for orthodontic alignment includes a radiographic template. The radiographic template has a plurality of metallic markers. A negative impression of a patient's dental arch is made. At least one orthodontic treatment aligner is produced. The aligner is manufactured based in part on a computed axial tomography (CT) scan of a patient wearing the radiographic template and a separate scan of the radiographic template, wherein the data is processed by superimposition of the orthodontic aligner on the CT images of the patient including a jaw in axial and panoramic views. In this manner, the tooth above the gum line, represented by the negative impression as well as the tooth below the gum line, represented by the CT data is used to design the orthodontic aligner. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090133260 | 3D dental shade matching and apparatus - Systems and methods are disclosed to fabricate a restorative prosthesis. The system includes a scanner to intra orally capture color and translucency information along with a three dimensional (3D) shape of the dentition being reconstructed. The system also includes a computer aided design (CAD) module to receive the color and translucency information and the 3D shape to render a color accurate representation of the prosthesis for review, wherein the color, translucency and surface information is combined in a single digital prescription which is electronically transferred to a laboratory or CAD/CAM system for fabrication. The system provides the capability for 3D shape, color and translucency characteristics of the final prosthesis to be measured and quantitatively compared to the prescribed requirements. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20110047799 | LASER SHAPED GREEN METAL BODY AND ORTHODONTIC BRACKET - A green metal body includes metal particles and a binder in the shape of an orthodontic bracket and/or base plate. The green metal body is fabricated by being laser-cut with a laser to shape the green metal body into the shape of an orthodontic bracket and/or to carve recesses and/or undercuts into the bonding surface of the bracket. The green metal body is sintered to shrink its volume into a denser and less porous sintered metal body configured to be an orthodontic bracket. The resultant sintered orthodontic bracket includes recesses and/or undercuts in the bonding surface to provide a mechanical aspect when bonded to a tooth. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110247214 | METHODS FOR FORMING PROGRESSIVE ALIGNERS - Improved methods and apparatus for forming a series of progressive aligners. A virtual model may be manipulated in a virtual CAD environment to arrive at an activated iteration of the virtual model representing progressively improved positions of one or more virtual teeth. From the virtual model, a positioning guide may be created (e.g., through the use of CAD CAM techniques to produce a corresponding positioning guide). The positioning guide may be registered to the physical model such that model teeth may be positioned according to the positioning guide to arrive at an activated iteration of the physical model. An aligner may then be generated using the activated iteration of the physical model. This process may be repeated for a variable number of iterations until the treatment objectives are determined to be met. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20120036719 | Torque Overcorrection Model - A custom orthodontic appliance comprised of brackets to be positioned on a patient's teeth, and an archwire, is customized to provide a desired torque to a tooth by selecting an angle for the slot of at least one bracket so as to provide a torque interaction between that bracket slot and the archwire. The torque interaction is computed to compensate for tooth tilt resulting from misalignment of the force vector applied by the archwire with the tooth center of resistance. The torque interaction is computed at the desired final position of the teeth, and may be computed to provide for an applied torque even where the tooth is positioned in the desired final tooth position to compensate for force diminution. Material properties of the archwire and the relative archwire slot geometry are evaluated to determine an archwire/slot angular offset in which torque is applied to the bracket. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20130291385 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ORTHODONTIC BRACKET HAVING A LASER SHAPED GREEN BODY - A green metal body includes metal particles and a binder in the shape of an orthodontic bracket and/or base plate. The green metal body is fabricated by being laser-cut with a laser to shape the green metal body into the shape of an orthodontic bracket and/or to carve recesses and/or undercuts into the bonding surface of the bracket. The green metal body is sintered to shrink its volume into a denser and less porous sintered metal body configured to be an orthodontic bracket. The resultant sintered orthodontic bracket includes recesses and/or undercuts in the bonding surface to provide a mechanical aspect when bonded to a tooth. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20150128421 | DENTAL APPLIANCE WITH SIMULATED TEETH AND METHOD FOR MAKING - The present invention relates to orthodontic positioning appliances that represent teeth in desired positions and related systems and methods. An appliance can include teeth receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to a patient's teeth. An appliance can include an outer component having a surface representing teeth in desired positions. An outer component can be integral with an appliance. An outer component can be separate and configured to couple with an appliance main body. | 05-14-2015 |
| 20160114377 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CUSTOMIZED SHAPING OF ORTHODONTIC ARCHWIRES AND OTHER MEDICAL DEVICES - An apparatus and method for bending or shaping orthodontic archwires or other medical devices into a complex, patient individual shape is described. The apparatus comprises of two moveable, compact, manipulators with, in total, at least three revolute joints defining three rotation axes and at least three prismatic joints defining at least three translation axes. Gripping tools are provided on the manipulators. The two manipulators are arranged to allow a relative movement in six degrees of freedom. A reduced complexity embodiment is also described having only one or two revolute joints. | 04-28-2016 |
| 20160114378 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CUSTOMIZED SHAPING OF ORTHODONTIC ARCHWIRES AND OTHER MEDICAL DEVICES - An apparatus and method for bending or shaping orthodontic archwires or other medical devices into a complex, patient individual shape is described. The apparatus comprises of two moveable, compact, manipulators with, in total, at least three revolute joints defining three rotation axes and at least three prismatic joints defining at least three translation axes. Gripping tools are provided on the manipulators. The two manipulators are arranged to allow a relative movement in six degrees of freedom. A reduced complexity embodiment is also described having only one or two revolute joints. | 04-28-2016 |
| 20160175070 | DENTAL POSITIONING APPLIANCE HAVING METALLIC PORTION | 06-23-2016 |
