Thermoplastic Aligner With Polysiloxane Gel For Enamel Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional orthodontic teeth aligner systems face issues such as patient discomfort, difficulty in removing aligners without damaging teeth, limited control over precise tooth movements, and aesthetic concerns due to visible attachments, which can lead to enamel damage and hygiene problems.
Innovation Solution
A removable thermoplastic aligner system with a heat-curable polysiloxane gel layer that provides a force transfer mechanism, allowing for effective orthodontic tooth movement without attachments, by forming a stronger bond with the aligner than with the teeth, enabling easy removal and repositioning without enamel damage and maintaining aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional metal braces are used to correct teeth misalignment, then functional success is achieved, but patient discomfort and enamel degradation occur due to fixed attachments
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the harmful fixed metal brackets and adhesive attachments from the teeth surface, extracting only the essential force application function. The aligner system applies orthodontic force through external removable appliances rather than through bonded attachments that damage enamel and cause discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces clear thermoplastic aligners as an intermediary medium between the patient's teeth and the orthodontic force. These aligners transfer force without requiring direct attachment to the teeth, thereby avoiding enamel degradation and reducing patient discomfort while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
2Ease of manufacture
If clear thermoplastic aligners are used to maintain aesthetics, then appearance is improved, but control over precise tooth movements is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different properties to different parts of the aligner system. The aligners maintain uniform clarity for aesthetics, while incorporating localized force transfer zones with enhanced friction properties. This allows precise control of tooth movement at specific locations without compromising the overall aesthetic appearance of the clear aligners.
3Reliability
If fixed metal braces are used for orthodontic treatment, then tooth realignment is achieved, but hygiene maintenance becomes difficult due to food particle retention
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the complex bracket and wire architecture that creates hygiene problems. By eliminating these fixed components that trap food particles, the system allows patients to maintain normal brushing and flossing routines while still achieving effective tooth realignment through the removable aligners.
4Force
If adhesive attachments are used to secure aligners to teeth, then force transfer is improved, but enamel damage occurs during removal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the chemical adhesive bonding system with a mechanical friction-based force transfer system. The aligners rely on friction and suction between the aligner material and tooth surface to maintain attachment and transfer force, eliminating the need for adhesives that require aggressive removal and cause enamel damage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system allows for efficient and damage-free orthodontic tooth movement, reducing patient discomfort and enamel risk, while improving aesthetics and hygiene by using a polysiloxane gel layer that adheres preferentially to the aligner, facilitating easy removal and maintaining orthodontic force over multiple cycles.
Implementation Method 1
The gel forms a first bond with the teeth contacting surface of the aligner and a second bond with the teeth of the wearer, wherein the first bond strength is greater than the second bond strength
Implementation Method 2
a substantially transparent force transfer layer comprising a curable gel engaging between the teeth aligning surface and the patients teeth
Implementation Method 3
providing a force transfer mechanism from the aligner to the teeth when in located in a required OTM fitting position on the teeth of the patient
Data Source
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AI summary
A method and apparatus providing orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) using a removable aligner, by providing a shaped removable aligner formed of a thermoplastic and moulded to an OTM fitting shape relative to the teeth of a patient; applying a layer of a gel to an inner surface of a teeth-receiving cavity of the thermoplastic aligner; locating the shaped removable aligner with the applied gel layer in a required OTM fitting position on the teeth of the patient to provide an effective OTM force on the teeth; wherein the gel layer substantially separates and spaces the aligner from the teeth while providing a force transfer mechanism from the aligner to the teeth.