An oral appliance that attaches to molars or bicuspids and that has the capability for side-to-side expansion and contraction in one unit as a self-stopping mechanism. Further, one embodiment can be activated to compress or expand and be deactivated in two planes of side-to-side or front-to-back, along three different arms/bridges respectively. This is to say that one arm can compress front-to-back while the other arm expands, the jaw/teeth front-to-back, simultaneously. With proper arrangements and anchorage preparation the device shown and described can move front teeth forward or backward or back teeth forward or backward independently on either side of the mouth.

A device and method for performing orthodontic decompensation before orthognathic surgery without the aid of braces. The device includes an archwire coupled at either end to a band which is in turn adhered to the first molars of a patient. Disposed along the length of the archwire is a plurality of fixtures which may include a plurality of hooks that work in conjunction with elastics or other components used during the orthognathic procedure. The archwire is formed around the patient's teeth so as to be passive and maintain the patient's current orthodontic treatment progress. The device may be placed on either or both of the upper and lower teeth of the patient before the orthognathic procedure thereby ensuring that the teeth will not move during or after the surgery during the recovery process and that required surgical splints will still fit.

A device and method for performing orthodontic decompensation before orthognathic surgery without the aid of braces. The device includes an archwire coupled at either end to a band which is in turn adhered to the first molars of a patient. Disposed along the length of the archwire is a plurality of fixtures which may include a plurality of hooks that work in conjunction with elastics or other components used during the orthognathic procedure. The archwire is formed around the patient's teeth so as to be passive and maintain the patient's current orthodontic treatment progress. The device may be placed on either or both of the upper and lower teeth of the patient before the orthognathic procedure thereby ensuring that the teeth will not move during or after the surgery during the recovery process and that required surgical splints will still fit.

An oral appliance that attaches to molars or bicuspids and that combines the capability for side-to-side and front-to-back expansion and contraction in one unit as a self-stopping mechanism. Further, this embodiment can be activated to compress or expand and be deactivated in two planes of side-to-side or front-to-back, along three different arms/bridges respectively. This is to say that one arm can compress front-to-back while the other arm expands, the jaw/teeth front-to-back, simultaneously). With proper arrangements and anchorage preparation the device shown and described can move front teeth forward or backward or back teeth forward or backward independently on either side of the mouth.

An oral appliance that attaches to molars or bicuspids and that combines the capability for side-to-side and front-to-back expansion and contraction in one unit as a self-stopping mechanism. Further, this embodiment can be activated to compress or expand and be deactivated in two planes of side-to-side or front-to-back, along three different arms/bridges respectively. This is to say that one arm can compress front-to-back while the other arm expands, the jaw/teeth front-to-back, simultaneously). With proper arrangements and anchorage preparation the device shown and described can move front teeth forward or backward or back teeth forward or backward independently on either side of the mouth.

A dental appliance includes an attachment mechanism suited to attach the appliance on the teeth of a patient's upper jaw. The appliance includes a constraining mechanism linked to the attachment mechanism, where the constraining mechanism is suited to limit the movement of a central zone of the tongue and allow the anterior and lateral edges of the patient's tongue to perform movements necessary for speech and swallowing.

An orthodontic appliance includes a portion made of a shape memory alloy having a base alloy composition of at least two different metallic elements and a treated region having an alloy composition that is depleted in at least one of the metallic elements. The base alloy may include a nickel titanium alloy (NiTi), a copper chromium nickel titanium alloy (CuCrNiTi), or a copper aluminum nickel (CuAlNi) alloy. The treated region may be depleted in at least one of copper, aluminum, nickel, and titanium relative to the base alloy composition by exposing the base alloy to a source of energy. The base alloy composition has a first austenitic finish temperature and the treated region has an austenitic finish temperature that may be different than the first austenitic finish temperature. The treated region may form a part of an archwire, a stop, a hook, a crown, a band, or an orthodontic bracket.

An orthodontic appliance includes a portion made of a shape memory alloy having a base alloy composition of at least two different metallic elements and a treated region having an alloy composition that is depleted in at least one of the metallic elements. The base alloy may include a nickel titanium alloy (NiTi), a copper chromium nickel titanium alloy (CuCrNiTi), or a copper aluminum nickel (CuAlNi) alloy. The treated region may be depleted in at least one of copper, aluminum, nickel, and titanium relative to the base alloy composition by exposing the base alloy to a source of energy. The base alloy composition has a first austenitic finish temperature and the treated region has an austenitic finish temperature that may be different than the first austenitic finish temperature. The treated region may form a part of an archwire, a stop, a hook, a crown, a band, or an orthodontic bracket.

A dental appliance includes an attachment mechanism suited to attach the appliance on the teeth of a patient's upper jaw. The appliance includes a constraining mechanism linked to the attachment mechanism, where the constraining mechanism is suited to limit the movement of a central zone of the tongue and allow the anterior and lateral edges of the patient's tongue to perform movements necessary for speech and swallowing.

A computer system and computerized method in which orthodontic treatment, including midcourse correction of one or more teeth in a dental arch fitted with a dental appliance, comprises a virtual simulation of a dental arch fitted with a virtual dental appliance in which each of the one or more teeth can be discretely moved from an initial position to a final position allowing modification of the fitted dental appliance by computerized selection of one or more brackets and production of a bonding tray adapted to hold the selected brackets in correspondence to determined bracket bonding locations in the virtual simulation of dental arch.