Modular Indirect Bonding Tray with Removal Tabs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing indirect bonding tray systems in orthodontics often fail to provide accurate placement of orthodontic brackets and suffer from bonding failures, particularly due to inadequate space for excess adhesive and the presence of protrusions like integral hooks, which complicate tray removal.
Innovation Solution
The development of modular indirect bonding trays with individual modules that can be connected and broken apart easily, featuring receiving channels for bracket placement, reinforcing tabs for securement, and removal tabs for facilitated removal without damaging the brackets, allowing for customized fitting and easy cleaning of excess adhesive.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional indirect bonding trays are used, then bracket placement can be performed, but the trays do not provide adequate resolution for accurate bracket placement
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding tray is divided into multiple individual modules, each corresponding to a specific tooth. Each module can be independently fabricated with high precision and then assembled together to form the complete arch tray, allowing for accurate bracket placement across all teeth while maintaining manufacturing feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
Each module of the bonding tray is customized to match the specific geometry and contours of its corresponding tooth. This localized customization ensures that each module provides optimal contact and positioning accuracy for its specific tooth, thereby improving overall bracket placement precision
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional indirect bonding trays are used, then brackets can be bonded to teeth, but there is inadequate space for clearing excess adhesive
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding tray is segmented into individual modules that can be separated or removed independently. This segmentation creates accessible spaces between modules and at the module-tooth interface, providing adequate room for practitioners to clear excess adhesive without interfering with the bonding process or tray structure
3Reliability
If traditional indirect bonding trays with integral hooks are used, then brackets can be secured to the tray, but tray removal causes bonding failures
Solution Approach 1:
The integral hooks that extend from the bracket are extracted or removed from the design. Instead, the bracket is secured to the bonding tray module through alternative mechanisms such as friction fit, snap-fit features, or adhesive bonding that do not require protruding hooks, thereby eliminating the risk of bonding failure during tray removal
Solution Approach 2:
The bonding tray modules are designed with pre-formed features that facilitate easy removal after bonding. These features may include predetermined break lines, flexible connection points, or module designs that allow for clean separation from the bonded bracket, ensuring tray removal does not compromise bonding integrity
4Measurement precision
If modular indirect bonding trays are used, then bracket placement accuracy is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The individual modules of the bonding tray are designed with standardized interfaces and uniform connection mechanisms that can be used across all teeth. This universality allows modules to be assembled in a systematic manner, reducing the complexity of the overall assembly process while maintaining high placement accuracy for each bracket
Data Source
AI summary
Indirect bonding tray systems are disclosed where the tray may generally comprise one or more individual modules each defining a receiving channel and configured for placement upon a dentition of a subject. A removal tab having a length may extend transversely relative to the individual module and a pivoting portion may be located away from the removal tab such that the removal tab is rotatable about the pivoting portion.