A method for manufacturing at least one bone anchor and a corresponding drilling template, wherein the bone anchor has an anchor plate which is to be fixed to the surface of a bone by means of one or several screws having a screw head. The anchor plate thus has a bone side which is to connect to the surface of the bone and a free side which is opposite to said bone side. Further, a method for manufacturing a drilling template is described, making it possible to make bore holes in the bone at predetermined positions and to screw the bone anchor to the bone according to predetermined orientations.

A removable orthodontic assembly to be used in a user's mouth, including: a frame member configured to be removably positioned proximate a lingual portion of the user's teeth; a first connector member, wherein the first connector member comprises a first end extending proximate to a labial portion of the user's teeth and a second end engaging the frame member; and a labial bow configured to be removably positioned proximate to the labial portion of the user's teeth having a first end and a second end, wherein the labial bow is configured to removably engage the first connector member.

An orthodontic alignment device can have a palatal contour anchorage (PCA) feature that generally matches the shape of the patient's hard pallet. This PCA feature may be built slightly off-set to deliberately push against the patient's palate and/or gingiva to provide anchorage support of staged translation of the teeth. By transferring the required anchorage away from the teeth and onto the palate, through the PCA feature, the adjacent teeth are no longer subjected to unwanted side effects of reaction forces.

The invention proposes an orthodontic anchorage device, which may be used in combination with others, comprising a plate with two, three or four pointed end stems distributed on one of its surfaces and at least two holes at the ends adapted for the insertion of micro screws. These stems are intended to slightly rest on the bone through the palatine mucosa, preventing the entire appliance from digging into the palate.

A medical apparatus including a bar with a first attachment loop, a second attachment and a plurality of hooks, wherein the medical apparatus is an arch bar.

A series of a palatal expanders increasing width can be used to gradually expand a patient's palate. Each palatal expander may have a palatal region flanked by teeth regions. The palatal region can have a plurality of anchor-receiving features (e.g., anchor interfaces) that allow the palatal expander to be attached to temporary anchorage device anchors that have been implanted into the patient's maxilla.

A method is provided for obtaining an estimation of the shape, position and/or orientation of one or more existing teeth of a patient or of one or more teeth to be included in a dental restoration destined to replace one or more missing teeth in a partially edentulous patient. The method involves adapting a virtual teeth setup to the intra-oral anatomical situation of the patient, wherein said virtual teeth setup includes separated surface meshes of individual teeth positioned in a dental arch or segment thereof. The virtual teeth setup is adapted by optimizing an energy function, which represents a quality measure for said virtual teeth setup, and using a statistical model, which describes for a given dentition or segment thereof a probability distribution for at least the shapes of individual teeth, the relations between shapes of neighbouring teeth and/or relations between positions and/or orientations of neighbouring teeth. The adapted virtual teeth setup resulting from said optimized energy function is subsequently used to estimate said sought for shape, position and/or orientation.

A dental appliance comprising a veneer, bridge, or crown with an integrated brace together formed as a single piece of material. The braces, crowns, veneers, and bridges may be printed with 3-dimensional (3D) software and SLA milling. Embodiments of the present invention provide the printed veneer, crown or bridge with an orthodontic portion (“brace” or “bracket”) that is all one piece. This can be used to move teeth orthodontically and provide a degree of esthetics. The appliance may include identification marks, which may guide placement of the appliance in a patient's mouth. The brace and identification marks can be removed, leaving the veneer, crown, or bridge behind.

A prophylactic or therapeutic agent for spinal muscular atrophy according to the present invention includes a compound represented by the formula (I) or a salt thereof:

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wherein: W.sup.1, W.sup.2, and W.sup.3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of C—R.sup.2, C—R.sup.3, C—R.sup.c, and C—R.sup.d, and are defined by one of the followings (i) to (iv): (i) when W.sup.3 is C—R.sup.2, then W.sup.1 is C—R.sup.3, W.sup.2 is C—R.sup.c or N, and R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom; (ii) when W.sup.3 is C—R.sup.3, then W.sup.1 is C—R.sup.2, W.sup.2 is C—R.sup.c or N, and R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom, C.sub.1-8 alkyl, or C.sub.1-8 alkoxy; (iii) when W.sup.1 is C—R.sup.2, then W.sup.2 is C—R.sup.c or N, W.sup.3 is C—R.sup.d, and R.sup.1 is an aliphatic heterocycle containing one or more nitrogen atoms, the aliphatic heterocycle being optionally substituted with a non-aromatic substituent; and (iv) when W.sup.2 is C—R.sup.2, W.sup.1 is C—R.sup.c, W.sup.3 is C—R.sup.d, and R.sup.1 is an aliphatic heterocycle containing one or more nitrogen atoms, the aliphatic heterocycle being optionally substituted with a non-aromatic substituent; R.sup.2 is a 6- or more membered aromatic ring optionally substituted with a non-aromatic substituent; R.sup.3 is an aliphatic heterocycle containing one or more nitrogen atoms, the aliphatic heterocycle being optionally substituted with a non-aromatic substituent; Q.sup.1 is selected from C—R.sup.a and N; Q.sup.2 is selected from C—R.sup.b and N; and R.sup.a, R.sup.b, R.sup.c, and R.sup.d are each independently selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, halogen, C.sub.1-8 alkyl, C.sub.1-8 alkoxy, and a cyano group.

An orthodontic alignment device can have a palatal contour anchorage (PCA) feature that generally matches the shape of the patient's hard pallet. This PCA feature may be built slightly off-set to deliberately push against the patient's palate and/or gingiva to provide anchorage support of staged translation of the teeth. By transferring the required anchorage away from the teeth and onto the palate, through the PCA feature, the adjacent teeth are no longer subjected to unwanted side effects of reaction forces.