LightForce Orthodontics, Inc.

The techniques described herein relate to additively manufactured orthodontic appliances. An example custom metal orthodontic bracket includes a body, a plurality of tie-wings, and a base. The base includes a base surface that is contoured to a shape of a tooth of a patient to which the custom metal orthodontic bracket is to be bonded, and a plurality of retentive structures, wherein at least one of a portion of the base is not polished or only partially polished, or a portion of at least one of the plurality of retentive structures is not polished or only partially polished. An example method for manufacturing a custom orthodontic bracket includes measuring dentition data of a patient, constructing a three-dimensional (3D) model of at least one tooth of the patient, designing a 3D model of the bracket, preparing feedstock, building the bracket, removing the feedstock, hardening the bracket, and polishing the bracket.

Techniques are described for moving and aligning groups of teeth, including the teeth of an entire arch, for orthodontic treatment planning. One or more 3D models each representing one of a plurality of the patient's teeth may be analyzed to identify feature points that represent clinically relevant reference points on the tooth. An arch shape may be generated based on the feature points. One or more control points, which characterize the path of the arch shape, may then be generated (e.g., from the identified feature points). A user may provide input that modifies the positions of one or more of the control points to adjust the arrangement of teeth, thereby producing a new arch shape, and new positions of the teeth may be determined according to the new arch shape.

A drug delivery device may include a component with a bonding location to be bonded to a surface of one or more teeth. A cavity may hold a formulation that includes a compound, and an orifice may release the compound outside the component.

In an embodiment, a method of manufacturing customized ceramic labial/lingual orthodontic brackets by additive manufacturing may comprise measuring dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient, based on the dentition data, creating a three dimensional computer-assisted design (3D CAD) model of the patient's teeth, and saving the 3D CAD model, designing a virtual 3D CAD bracket structure model for a single labial or lingual bracket structure based upon said 3D CAD model, importing data related to the 3D CAD bracket structure model into an additive manufacturing machine, and directly producing the bracket with the additive manufacturing machine by layer manufacturing from an inorganic material including at least one of a ceramic, a polymer-derived ceramic, and a polymer-derived metal.

Embodiments may provide improved techniques for creating custom lingual or labial ceramic orthodontic brackets, and which provides the capability for in-office fabrication of such brackets. For example, a method of manufacturing customized ceramic labial/lingual orthodontic brackets by ceramic slurry-based AM may comprise measuring dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient, based on the dentition data, creating a three dimensional computer-assisted design (3D CAD) model of the patient's teeth using reverse engineering, and saving the 3D CAD model on a computer, designing a 3D CAD bracket structure model for a single labial or lingual bracket structure, importing data related to the 3D CAD bracket structure model into a ceramic slurry-based AM machine, directly producing the bracket (green part) in the ceramic slurry-based AM machine by layer manufacturing, and processing the brackets in a sintering and debinding oven prior to direct use.

Embodiments relate to the methodology of direct manufacture of a customized labial/lingual orthodontic tube by using a ceramic slurry-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology. For example, a method of manufacturing customized ceramic labial/lingual orthodontic tubes by additive manufacturing may comprise measuring dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient, based on the dentition data, creating a three-dimensional computer-assisted design (3D CAD) model of the patient's teeth, and saving the 3D CAD model, designing a virtual 3D CAD tube structure model for a single labial or lingual tube structure based upon said 3D CAD model, importing data related to the 3D CAD tube structure model into an additive manufacturing machine, and directly producing the tube with the additive manufacturing machine by layer manufacturing from an inorganic material including at least one of a ceramic, a polymer-derived ceramic, and a polymer-derived metal.

Some embodiments relate to techniques of designing indirect bonding (IDB) trays that compensate for factors that affect the bonding success of orthodontic appliance(s) using IDB trays. The techniques apply optimization rules to an IDB tray design to optimize the transfer accuracy of orthodontic appliance(s) to a patient's teeth using IDB tray(s) of the IDB tray design. For example, the techniques may compensate for movement of teeth relative to an initial scan, narrow/wide central arches, teeth planned for extraction, and/or other factors. The techniques may, for example, customize segmentation of IDB trays in an IDB tray design to compensate for factors that affect bonding success.

A rebonding tray being manufactured according to a method of manufacturing a rebonding tray, the method comprising: obtaining a first treatment configuration and a second treatment configuration, the first and second treatment configuration comprising positions of the target tooth and a neighboring tooth of the target tooth; determining a mapping between the first treatment configuration and the second treatment configuration, wherein the mapping comprises a path of tooth movement for the neighboring tooth of the target tooth and corrects for movement of the target tooth; determining an exclusion volume based on the mapping between the first treatment configuration and the second treatment configuration; determining a shape of a rebonding tray based on a shape of the target tooth and the exclusion volume; and manufacturing a rebonding tray based on the determined shape of the rebonding tray.