Orthodontic appliance with encoded information formed in the base

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed, at least in part, to a self ligating orthodontic bracket having a rotatable member for securing an archwire within a slot of the bracket. Embodiments of the orthodontic bracket disclosed herein include a bracket body containing the archwire slot as well as tie wings for attaching various orthodontic devices (e.g., elastomeric bands) to the bracket. The rotatable member is rotatable in a first direction (e.g., counter clockwise) relative to a body of the bracket for securing or locking the archwire within the slot, and for rotating in an opposite direction (e.g., a clockwise direction) relative to the bracket body for unsecuring or unlocking the archwire so that it is substantially unrestrained from exiting the slot.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 782,569, filed Jul. 24, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 848,929, filed May 18, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,018, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 284,016, filed on Oct. 29, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,178; the present application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 758,090, filed Apr. 12, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 260,923, filed Oct. 27, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,695,277, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 623,715, filed on Oct. 28, 2004; the present application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 518,927, filed on May 12, 2011; each of the above-identified applications are incorporated fully herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0041]Yet another embodiment provides a self-ligating orthodontic bracket that includes a mounting base for attachment to a tooth surface, an archwire slot formed upon the base and sized for receiving an orthodontic archwire, a rotary ligating cover selectively rotatable between an open position permitting access to the archwire slot and a closed position covering the archwire slot, and one or more locking features for holding the rotary cover in a closed position. Such locking feature may be positioned and designed to cooperatively mate with other designated portions of the bracket so as to achieve desired reversible engagement and open-retention features may also be provided that facilitate the purposeful opening of t

Problems solved by technology

However, the '494 Patent and the other patents noted above fail to disclose a base structure that includes lettering, symbols, or numerals that are substantially continuous and that functionally serve as texturing to enhance the adhesive bonding surface of, e.g., an orthodontic appliance to a patient's tooth.

In particular, such extensions, when rotated to occlude at least a portion of the slot opening thereby preventing an archwire residing in the bracket sl

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