Lingual Orthodontic Appliance With Spring Members for Tooth Movement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing orthodontic appliances, such as braces and aligners, face challenges in effectively moving teeth to optimal positions due to manual adjustments, patient discomfort, aesthetic issues, and compliance problems, while lingual braces are sensitive to archwire adjustments and cause tongue irritation.
Innovation Solution
An orthodontic appliance with rigid segments, arms, and bracket connectors that extend along adjacent teeth, featuring loop or curved features and spring members to provide rotational and longitudinal forces, allowing for secure attachment without frequent adjustments and minimizing patient discomfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional braces with brackets and archwires are used, then teeth can be moved to optimal positions, but patient discomfort increases and aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to manual adjustments and visible brackets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical bracket-archwire system with a self-ligating appliance that uses elastic elements and spring members to provide continuous orthodontic forces. This eliminates the need for manual wire adjustments that cause patient discomfort while maintaining effective tooth movement through programmed mechanical action.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance incorporates self-ligating mechanisms with elastic elements that automatically maintain continuous pressure on teeth without requiring manual adjustments. The spring members provide self-regulating forces that adapt to tooth movement progress, reducing the need for office visits and adjustment procedures that cause patient discomfort.
2Reliability
If traditional braces with brackets and archwires are used, then teeth can be moved to optimal positions, but aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visible brackets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional bracket placement by positioning the ligating mechanism on the lingual (tongue) side of the teeth rather than the visible facial side. This allows the appliance to remain effective for tooth movement while being hidden from view, thus improving aesthetic appearance without compromising orthodontic functionality.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If aligners are used instead of braces, then aesthetics improve and comfort increases, but treatment effectiveness deteriorates for certain malocclusions requiring extrusion, translation, and rotations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the appliance into distinct functional components: lingual brackets for anchorage, archwires for structural support, and elastic/spring elements for applying targeted forces. This segmented design enables the appliance to achieve complex tooth movements (extrusion, translation, rotation) that single-piece aligners cannot accomplish, while maintaining patient comfort and aesthetics.
4Shape
If lingual braces are used to improve aesthetics, then visibility decreases, but device complexity increases and tongue irritation occurs due to the bracket-archwire system on the lingual surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the bracket and ligating mechanism into a single integrated self-ligating unit positioned on the lingual surface. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components (bracket, tie wire, archwire interactions) that characterize traditional lingual braces, thereby simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining aesthetic invisibility and reducing tongue irritation from multiple separate elements.
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 appliance provides efficient tooth movement with reduced patient discomfort and improved aesthetics by minimizing the need for manual adjustments and enhancing compliance, while maintaining effective tooth positioning.
Implementation Method 1
spring members to provide rotational and longitudinal forces
Data Source
AI summary
The present technology comprises methods of manufacturing an orthodontic appliance. For example, a method can include forming an orthodontic appliance in an intermediate configuration by a casting process. The method can further include securing the appliance to a shape forming fixture such that the appliance assumes a desired configuration. The shape forming fixture can comprise a gingiva portion including a surface having a shape corresponding at least in part to a gingiva of a patient and a securing portion carried by the gingiva portion and configured to releasably secure to a portion of the appliance. The method can further include setting a shape of the appliance while the appliance is secured to the shape forming fixture.