Orthodontic Appliance Base Protrusion Geometry for Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing orthodontic appliances face challenges in providing reliable mechanical retention in multiple directions (lingual-labial, mesial-distal, and mandible-maxilla) while being easy to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
An orthodontic appliance base with protrusions extending from one edge to another, where the distance between protrusions is smaller in the middle than at the edges, providing mechanical retention in three directions and facilitating easy manufacturing through injection molding or machining techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If protrusions are arranged closely together to provide strong mechanical retention, then retention strength is improved, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions are designed with non-uniform spacing: closer spacing in the mesial-distal direction (from first edge to second edge) and wider spacing in the lingual-labial direction (from base surface to top of protrusions). This local variation in geometry provides strong mechanical retention where needed while maintaining manufacturability by avoiding uniformly tight tolerances throughout the entire structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions extend in three dimensions from the base surface, creating a stepped configuration. The spacing between protrusions varies in different spatial dimensions: closer spacing mesially and distally, but wider spacing lingually and labially. This multi-dimensional arrangement provides retention in multiple directions while allowing easier manufacturing compared to uniform close spacing in all directions.
2Ease of manufacture
If protrusions are spaced uniformly throughout to simplify manufacturing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but mechanical retention in multiple directions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than uniform spacing, the protrusions feature localized variations in spacing: closer spacing in the mesial-distal direction and wider spacing in the lingual-labial direction. This local quality variation ensures strong mechanical retention in the mesial-distal direction while the wider spacing in other directions maintains manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The base surface is segmented into different functional zones with different protrusion spacing characteristics. The mesial and distal portions have closer spacing for strong retention, while the lingual and labial portions have wider spacing for easier manufacturing. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized for its specific function.
3Reliability
If protrusions extend fully from edge to edge to maximize retention, then mechanical retention is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions extend from the base surface to the top edge in the lingual-labial direction, but do not necessarily extend fully from both mesial and distal edges. This partial extension provides adequate retention while reducing the overall geometric complexity compared to full-edge-to-edge extensions in all directions.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than extending protrusions maximally in all directions to achieve full retention, the design inverts the approach by providing full extension only where necessary (lingual-labial direction) and partial extension where adequate retention is achieved with less material (mesial-distal direction).
Data Source
AI summary
Base for an orthodontic appliance includes a base surface adapted to be attached to a tooth and a plurality of protrusions protruding from the base surface and extending along a first direction substantially from a first edge of the base surface to a second edge of the base surface, a second direction being defined as perpendicular to the base surface, wherein the distance between two of the protrusions in a plane substantially perpendicular to the first direction along at least a portion of the protrusions is smaller than the distance between the two protrusions at the base surface, and wherein the distance between two of the protrusions in planes substantially perpendicular to the second direction at the first edge and the second edge is larger than a distance between the two protrusions in a plane between the first and the second edge.