Adjustable Tooth Analog Guides for Polymeric Orthodontic Appliances
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for manufacturing polymeric orthodontic appliances are time-consuming and expensive, requiring multiple physical dental arch models, which incur significant costs and storage/disposal expenses.
Innovation Solution
A method involving physical tooth analogs with guides that direct the movement of model tooth crowns along predetermined paths, allowing incremental movement and formation of polymeric appliances over these models, reducing the need for multiple arch models and enabling cost-effective production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If physical dental arch models are manufactured for each intermediate tooth arrangement, then the polymeric appliances can be accurately formed, but the manufacturing cost and time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the dental arch model into individual tooth analogs that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows the teeth to be moved incrementally to intermediate positions without manufacturing entirely new arch models, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while significantly improving productivity and reducing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs adjustable and movable tooth analogs within the arch model, allowing dynamic repositioning of individual teeth to various intermediate positions. This dynamic capability enables the same physical model to be reused multiple times for different intermediate stages, eliminating the need to manufacture separate static models for each stage.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple physical dental arch models are manufactured for each appliance, then each appliance can be precisely customized, but material costs and storage expenses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a single master arch model with adjustable tooth analogs that can be repositioned to represent multiple intermediate stages. This preliminary creation of a reusable model eliminates the need to manufacture multiple separate arch models, thereby reducing rapid prototyping material consumption while maintaining the ability to precisely customize each appliance.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding physical arch models after each use, the patent recovers and reuses the same model by adjusting the tooth analogs to new positions. This recovery and reuse approach significantly reduces material consumption while maintaining manufacturing precision across multiple appliance iterations.
3Device complexity
If tooth movement paths are controlled using traditional methods, then the process can be simplified, but interference between teeth during movement cannot be easily observed
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the dental arch into individual adjustable tooth analogs, the patent enables independent manipulation and observation of each tooth's movement path. This segmentation makes it easy to detect and measure interference between adjacent teeth during the incremental movement process, while maintaining procedural simplicity through the use of physical guides and tracks.
Data Source
AI summary
A series of polymeric orthodontic appliances is made by providing a set of tooth analogs, each having a model crown that represents the shape of a corresponding tooth of the patient. The tooth analogs are moved along respective guides as needed in order to bring the associated model crown an incremental step toward or away from its desired position. The polymeric appliance is formed by placing a sheet of polymeric material over the model crowns after at least one tooth analog has been moved to create a desired model tooth arrangement.