Digital Guide Apparatus for Tooth Positioning Appliance Fabrication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional orthodontic treatments using braces are time-consuming, unsightly, uncomfortable, and challenging for dental hygiene, and existing methods for manufacturing tooth positioning appliances are inefficient and require significant skill and material, making them costly and difficult to mass-produce.
Innovation Solution
A method involving forming a three-dimensional model of a patient's teeth, acquiring digital data, manipulating the data to move teeth to new positions, and using computer-directed fabrication to create guides and appliances, allowing for precise repositioning and automated production of tooth positioning appliances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional braces are used for orthodontic treatment, then teeth can be repositioned effectively, but the treatment becomes time-consuming and requires many visits to the orthodontist
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment plan is fully predetermined using digital modeling and simulation before treatment begins. All tooth movements, appliance sequences, and adjustment parameters are calculated in advance, eliminating the need for multiple in-office adjustment visits and allowing patients to progress through pre-programmed treatment stages at home.
Solution Approach 2:
Physical tooth models are created as digital 3D copies through scanning, and all treatment planning and appliance fabrication are based on these digital replicas. This allows for precise virtual simulation of tooth movements and enables manufacturing of custom appliances without requiring repeated physical model adjustments during treatment.
2Reliability
If conventional braces with archwires and ligatures are used, then teeth can be moved through controlled forces, but dental hygiene procedures become challenging and may lead to gingivitis and decay
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous archwire system is segmented into individual tooth-specific appliances or smaller functional units. Each appliance can be independently removed for cleaning and reattached, allowing patients to access and clean between teeth without obstruction from fixed wires and ligatures, while still maintaining controlled tooth movement forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The orthodontic system transitions from a static fixed brace system to a dynamic removable appliance system. The appliances can be taken out for hygiene procedures and put back for treatment, providing flexibility that maintains both orthodontic effectiveness and oral hygiene accessibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual methods are used to manipulate tooth models and make positioning appliances, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but the process requires significant skill, time, and material
Solution Approach 1:
Manual mechanical manipulation of physical tooth models is replaced with computer-based digital modeling and simulation systems. Software algorithms automatically calculate optimal tooth movement paths, predict treatment outcomes, and generate appliance fabrication data, eliminating the need for skilled manual model manipulation while dramatically increasing manufacturing efficiency and consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from physical model manipulation to digital parameter-based control. All tooth positions, movements, and appliance specifications are defined through digital parameters and coordinates in virtual space, allowing for precise, repeatable, and efficient appliance production without manual intervention.
4Manufacturing precision
If traditional manufacturing methods are used for tooth positioning appliances, then custom fitting is achieved, but the process is costly and difficult to mass-produce
Solution Approach 1:
Each patient's unique tooth anatomy is captured as a digital copy through scanning, and all custom appliances are fabricated from these digital replicas using automated manufacturing systems. This allows unlimited replication of the same appliance design once the digital model is created, enabling cost-effective mass production while maintaining perfect custom fit for each patient.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process transitions from manual craft-based fabrication to computer-controlled automated manufacturing. Digital parameters from the treatment plan directly drive CNC machining, 3D printing, or other automated fabrication processes, ensuring consistent precision and enabling scalable production without increasing per-unit cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manipulating a three-dimensional model of a patient's teeth for making one or more tooth positioning appliances involves: forming at least one three-dimensional model of the patient's teeth; acquiring an initial digital data set representing at least part of the three-dimensional model; manipulating a digital model derived from the initial digital data set to move at least one tooth from an initial position to a first intermediate position; forming a first guide from the digital model with the at least one tooth in the first intermediate position; separating the at least one tooth from the three-dimensional model; placing the at least one tooth in the first guide in the first intermediate position; and securing the at least one tooth to the three-dimensional model in the first intermediate position. Guide apparatus and systems are also provided.