Orthodontic Framework Non-Reciprocal Anchorage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clear aligners, such as Invisalign, face challenges in applying differential forces to teeth, leading to unwanted movements of adjacent teeth due to reciprocal anchorage, which can result in inadequate force magnitudes and incorrect direction, making it difficult to achieve precise tooth movements like bodily tooth movement, torque control, and root movements.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a rigid orthodontic framework as a non-reciprocal anchorage within the aligner, allowing for strategic placement and attachment via mechanical interlocking, adhesion, or chemical bonding, enabling the application of precise and independent forces on specific teeth, thus serving as a backbone for the aligner to move teeth to desired positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If clear aligners use reciprocal anchorage to move teeth, then the aligner can apply force to teeth, but unwanted movement of adjacent anchor teeth occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a framework as an intermediary anchorage system between the aligner and the teeth. This framework serves as a dedicated anchor that the aligner can push against, eliminating the need for adjacent teeth to serve as anchor points. The framework absorbs the reactive forces that would otherwise cause unwanted movement of anchor teeth, while still allowing effective force application to move the target teeth.
2Force
If clear aligners rely on adjacent teeth as anchor points, then force can be applied to move teeth, but the quality and effectiveness depend on the adequacy of anchor teeth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the anchorage function from the natural tooth structure and relocates it to a dedicated framework. By taking out the anchorage requirement from the tooth system, the invention eliminates the reliability issues associated with depending on the quality and position of natural anchor teeth. The framework provides a consistent, controllable anchorage point that can be designed independently of the patient's natural tooth anatomy.
3Device complexity
If clear aligners use reciprocal anchorage, then treatment can proceed without additional structures, but precise control over force direction and magnitude is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the orthodontic system into distinct functional components: the aligner for applying force to teeth and the framework for providing anchorage. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function. The framework can be designed with specific geometries and attachment points to control force direction and magnitude precisely, while the aligner focuses on delivering force to the target teeth. This division enables greater precision than a unified reciprocal anchorage system.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided herein is an orthodontic frame work and methods of making and using the same. The framework is configured to be placed within a dental arch nearby a tooth or teeth of a patient in combination with an appliance via an attachment for moving the tooth or teeth, the framework being less pliable than the appliance so as to serve as an anchor or a backbone of the appliance, the appliance is effective to move a tooth or teeth from an initial position to an intermediate position or final position of the tooth or teeth according to a prescription by a treating doctor, and the attachment is via a material forming the appliance and is configured to allow the framework to exert a non-reciprocal force upon the appliance and the appliance to exert a non-reciprocal force upon the tooth or teeth.