| 摘要 |
The present invention provides dental appliances, systems and methods which allow orthodontic practitioners to more easily monitor patient treatment progress. When using elastic repositioning appliances in orthodontic treatment, a patient may wear such an appliance until their teeth have repositioned to the tooth configuration prescribed by the appliance. At that point, the patient should progress to the next appliance for repositioning to the next tooth configuration in the treatment plan. Indications that the appliance is no longer supplying significant repositioning forces may be beneficial in the determination of progressing the patient to the next appliance or next stage in treatment. Mechanical stress in the material of the appliance, when the appliance is in place over the patient's teeth, may serve as an indicator of repositioning force applied against the teeth. Such stress may be visualized with the use of photoelastic material in or on the appliance.
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