ORTHODONTIC SYSTEMS AND METHODS INCLUDING PARAMETRIC ATTACHMENTS

摘要

Orthodontic systems and related methods are disclosed for designing and providing improved or more effective tooth moving systems for eliciting a desired tooth movement and/or repositioning teeth into a desired arrangement. Methods and orthodontic systems of the invention include tooth attachments having improved or optimized parameters selected or modified for more optimal and/or effective application of forces for a desired/selected orthodontic movement. Attachments of the present invention can be customized to a particular patient (e.g., patient-customized), a particular movement, and/or a sub-group or sub-set of patients, and configured to engage an orthodontic tooth positioning appliance worn by a patient, where engagement between the attachment and orthodontic appliance results in application of a repositioning force or series/system of forces to the tooth having the attachment and will generally elicit a tooth movement.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for designing a customized tooth movement system for eliciting a selected movement of a patient's tooth, the method comprising:
determining, with aid of a processor, a targeted force system configured to elicit the selected movement when applied to the patient's tooth; selecting, with aid of the processor, a generic tooth attachment configured to engage an orthodontic appliance; determining, with aid of the processor, a first force system that would be applied to the tooth by engagement of the generic tooth attachment with the orthodontic appliance; and generating, with aid of the processor, a custom tooth attachment by modifying one or more parameters of the generic tooth attachment, wherein the custom tooth attachment is configured to engage the orthodontic appliance so as to apply a second force system to the tooth, the second force system more closely corresponding to the targeted force system than the first force system.