Reduced registration bonding template

• US 9,744,002 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2013
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Moss, Jon, Sribar, Rok
• Primary Examiner(s): Shechtman, Sean
• Application Number:
  US13/846,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20130273488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,625 Days
• Field of Search: 700 98
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/02 Tools for manipulating or working with an orthodontic appliance tools for placement of brackets A61C7/146; instruments for attaching elastic bands A61C7/306
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/146 Positioning or placement of brackets; Tools therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing

Abstract

A dental template for positioning an object on teeth of a patient and method for fabricating the same. The method includes creating a digital model of the patient'"'"'s teeth, creating a simplified template model based on the digital model, and fabricating the dental template based on the simplified template model. The template model is simplified by removing certain features of the patient'"'"'s tooth anatomy. The dental template can be located on a patient'"'"'s teeth using four or fewer positioning teeth.

Claims

1. A dental template for positioning an object on teeth of a patient, the template comprising:

a polymeric shell shaped to fit over a portion of an arch of the teeth of the patient, the shell comprising a first portion shaped to receive a first subset of the teeth of the arch and a second portion shaped to receive a second subset of the teeth of the arch, the first portion comprising one or more tooth receiving cavities having occlusal or incisal geometries corresponding to occlusal or incisal tooth geometries of the first subset of the teeth, and the second portion comprising a planar occlusion portion spanning the second subset of the teeth, the planar occlusion portion having a continuous planar geometry comprising a reduced number of occlusal features relative to a number of occlusal features of the second subset of the teeth.

2. The dental template of claim 1, wherein the first subset of the teeth includes no more than four of the teeth and the tooth receiving cavities of the first portion of the shell have occlusal geometries that correspond to occlusal surfaces of corresponding teeth of the patient.

3. The dental template of claim 2, wherein the no more than four of the teeth comprise at least one central incisor and two mirror-image molars.

4. The dental template of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of brackets positioned on the template.

5. The dental template of claim 1, wherein the template is configured to control placement of the object on the teeth of the patient.

6. The dental template of claim 1, wherein the shell further comprises one or more openings shaped to control placement of one or more objects on the teeth of the patient.

7. The dental template of claim 6, wherein the one or more objects comprise at least one bracket.

8. The dental template of claim 6, wherein the one or more openings are shaped to locate each of the one or more objects at a predetermined inclination or predetermined angulation on the teeth of the patient.

9. The dental template of claim 1, wherein the first portion reproduces at least one occlusal feature of the first subset of the teeth.