Shape Memory Alloy Retainer for Stable Tooth Surface Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional retainers made of stainless steel are prone to deformation, leading to incomplete tooth contact, discomfort, food entrapment, plaque formation, gum inflammation, and tooth decay, as well as potential rearrangement of the tooth arrangement when the wire breaks or bends.
Innovation Solution
A retainer body formed from a single integrated shape memory alloy configuration, laser-cut based on 3D scanning data of the tooth arrangement, with curved protrusions for interdental space contact and support parts for tooth surfaces, and a width modification process to correct shape errors caused by laser cutting, ensuring stable contact and preventing breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a stainless steel wire is used to manufacture the retainer, then the manufacturing process is simple and easy to perform, but the retainer deforms and cannot maintain complete contact with tooth surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from conventional stainless steel to shape memory alloy, which fundamentally alters the mechanical properties. This material parameter change enables the retainer to maintain precise contact with tooth surfaces while being manufactured through laser cutting, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and contact precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical bending process with laser cutting technology. Instead of manually or mechanically bending stainless steel wire, the shape memory alloy plate is laser-cut into the desired retainer shape, substituting a mechanical forming process with a precision thermal cutting process that achieves better dimensional accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a stainless steel wire retainer is used, then the retainer has elasticity to accommodate tooth movements, but the wire may break or bend causing tooth arrangement disarrangement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes shape memory alloy, which combines the properties of elasticity and shape memory effect in a single material. This composite material behavior allows the retainer to flexibly adapt to tooth movements while maintaining structural integrity and returning to its original shape, eliminating the reliability issues of conventional stainless steel wires that can break or permanently deform.
Solution Approach 2:
The shape memory alloy provides inherent cushioning through its material properties, absorbing stresses and deformations that would otherwise cause wire breakage or permanent bending. This prior cushioning capability prevents the reliability failures associated with conventional retainers.
3Ease of operation
If the retainer is manufactured by bending stainless steel wire, then the process is flexible and adaptable, but the retainer does not make perfect contact with outer surfaces of the teeth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical bending operation with laser cutting. The laser cutting process can precisely follow the contours of the teeth and interdental spaces, creating a retainer that makes perfect contact with tooth surfaces. This substitution of manufacturing method maintains operational simplicity while dramatically improving contact completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
Changing from wire bending to plate laser cutting fundamentally changes the manufacturing parameters. The laser cutting process allows for precise control of the retainer shape and dimensions, enabling perfect adaptation to the complex geometry of teeth and interdental spaces, thereby resolving the contact completeness issue.
4Reliability
If conventional retainers are used, then the manufacturing method is established and reliable, but the retainer allows tongue discomfort, food entrapment, and plaque formation due to incomplete contact
Solution Approach 1:
The laser cutting process uses a laser beam (electromagnetic energy) to precisely cut the shape memory alloy plate. This advanced manufacturing technology enables the creation of a retainer with perfect fit that eliminates gaps where food and plaque could accumulate, while also ensuring comfort by avoiding pressure points that would cause tongue discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of shape memory alloy creates a retainer that perfectly adapts to the oral cavity geometry, eliminating the harmful effects of incomplete contact such as food entrapment and plaque formation, while maintaining manufacturing reliability through the precision of laser cutting.
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 retainer achieves stable contact with the tooth arrangement, minimizing foreign body sensation and deformation, while reducing manufacturing time and cost, and enhancing the effectiveness of tooth arrangement correction.
Implementation Method 1
a body formed of a shape memory alloy material and formed as a single integrated configuration
Implementation Method 2
the body is manufactured by being laser cut from a base material of the shape memory alloy material
Data Source
AI summary
Proposed is a retainer and a method for manufacturing the retainer. The retainer has a body which is in close contact with a tooth arrangement and which is formed of a shape memory alloy material. The body is manufactured by being laser cut from a base material of the shape memory alloy material on the basis of 3D scanning data of the tooth arrangement and then a width thereof is modified. The method includes a process of acquiring three-dimensional data of the tooth arrangement, a data processing process of generating processing line data on the basis of the scanning data, a laser cutting process of manufacturing a body forming part by laser cutting the shape memory alloy material, and a width modification process of thermally treating the body forming part after expanding or reducing and fixing the body forming part so that the width thereof is widened or narrowed.