Interlocking Composite Dental Appliances for Stiffness and Toughness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional additive manufacturing techniques struggle to produce orthodontic appliances with sufficient stiffness for repositioning forces while maintaining toughness over extended periods, and often require labor-intensive separation of integrally formed supports.
Innovation Solution
The development of composite materials with mechanically interlocking elements, comprising an interlocking structure and a matrix, which allows for decoupling of portions without fracturing, and provides improved mechanical properties such as high stiffness and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional additive manufacturing techniques use single material with uniform composition, then manufacturing process is simple, but mechanical properties are insufficient (cannot achieve both sufficient stiffness and toughness)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials consisting of a first material and a second material with different mechanical properties. The first material provides stiffness for applying repositioning forces, while the second material provides toughness for extended durability. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by combining materials with complementary properties rather than using a single uniform material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different materials to different regions of the orthodontic appliance based on functional requirements. High-stiffness material is placed in regions requiring force application, while high-toughness material is placed in regions requiring flexibility and durability. This spatial differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between stiffness and toughness requirements.
2Stability of the object's composition
If integrally formed supports are used in additive manufacturing, then structural integrity is maintained, but post-processing separation becomes difficult and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the orthodontic appliance into distinct portions made from different materials during the additive manufacturing process. The supports are created as separate material regions rather than being integrally formed with the appliance body. This segmentation allows for easy separation during post-processing while maintaining structural integrity during fabrication, as each material region can be independently removed.
3Ease of manufacture
If single material is used throughout the object, then fabrication process is straightforward, but the object cannot achieve both high stiffness and flexibility simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials to achieve a wide range of mechanical properties within a single fabrication process. By combining materials with different stiffness and flexibility characteristics, the appliance can simultaneously exhibit both high stiffness in force-application regions and high flexibility in other regions. This resolves the contradiction by enabling mechanical property versatility while maintaining fabrication simplicity through multi-material additive manufacturing capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Materials and additively manufactured objects including mechanically interlocking elements are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes forming a dental appliance at least partially out of a composite material. The composite material can include an interlocking structure having a plurality of interlocking elements. The interlocking structure can have a first mechanical property. The composite material can also include a matrix surrounding at least a portion of the interlocking structure. The matrix can have a second mechanical property different from the first mechanical property.