A method for determining orthodontic brackets in order to use standard brackets or a combination of standard and custom brackets. The method determines which teeth in a digital 3D model of teeth have surfaces that will virtually fit to a base of a standard bracket within a tolerance. For those teeth that will virtually fit to one of the standard brackets, each of the teeth are associated with the corresponding standard bracket for later placement of the brackets on the surfaces of the patient's teeth. The method also identifies the teeth in the digital 3D model of teeth that will not virtually fit to a standard bracket, and brackets with custom bases can be designed and made for those teeth.

An orthodontic correction device is provided, including a shell having a number of teeth receiving cavities configured to receive teeth of a dental arch of a patient. A first elastic member holding feature is formed on one side of the shell and corresponds to an undercut region of a tooth of the dental arch. A first orthodontic elastic member is coupled to the first elastic member holding feature and extends to the interior of the shell to engage with the undercut region of the tooth, thereby enhancing the retention of the orthodontic correction device on the dental arch.

Packaged orthodontic assemblies include a chamber, an orthodontic appliance, and a support structure engaged with the appliance to secure the appliance in the chamber. The support structure can include a post complemental to a partially enclosed passage, typically an arch wire slot, in the appliance body. The support may orient the wall sections of the enclosed passage at an acute angle relative to a chamber side wall.

Provided are orthodontic devices to orthopedically expand the upper jaw including a pre-formed arch wire adapted to conform to the interior contours of a patient's mouth. The arch includes a rear portion positioned at a level about a patient's rear molars and includes a first end and a second end adapted to slidably engage associated buccal tubes. The arch also includes a front portion positioned at a level above a patient's gingiva and into the patient's vestibule, and a rise portion between the rear portion and front portion that changes the effective level of the arch wire from the rear portion to the front portion. The device also includes a means for attaching the wire to the molar teeth.

Maxillary and mandibular appliances can be mounted to a user's upper and lower jaws. The appliances can include a palatal pad, buccal tubes, hamular notch tubes, and an anterior deprogrammer. The various portions of the appliances can provoke beneficial reactions by muscles in the tongue and jaw area, massage the same muscles, or provide other beneficial effects.

An orthodontic appliance, includes a crimpable tubular shaped portion having at least three walls selected from the group consisting of a lingual wall, a buccal or labial wall, an occlusal wall and a gingival wall, the at least three walls defining and opening configured to receive an archwire therethrough in a mesial-distal direction. The appliance includes at least one wing joined to the tubular shaped portion, the at least one wing extending longitudinally in the mesial-distal direction. A slot is provided in the at least one wing open to an end of the wing in the mesial or distal direction and having a depth in the mesial distal direction and a height in a gingival-occlusal direction configured to receive a ligature wire or elastic.

Methods and systems are provided for generating a treatment plan for arch expansion where a polymeric shell appliance is utilized to generate one or more activation forces that facilitate tooth movement. The polymeric shell appliances may comprise one or more tooth receiving cavities, in which each of the plurality of tooth receiving cavities is shaped and arranged to provide a counter moment of each of the plurality of teeth.

The present invention includes a geared orthodontic buccal tube assembly which comprises of a buccal tube with an elongated hook that engages one or more gearwheels which in turn engage a toothed surfaces to redirect the direction of the applied force pulling the buccal tube to prevent or reduce the movement of the anchor tooth thus reinforcing the anchor teeth.

Embodiments relate to the methodology of direct manufacture of a customized labial/lingual orthodontic tube by using a ceramic slurry-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology. For example, a method of manufacturing customized ceramic labial/lingual orthodontic tubes by additive manufacturing may comprise measuring dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient, based on the dentition data, creating a three-dimensional computer-assisted design (3D CAD) model of the patient's teeth, and saving the 3D CAD model, designing a virtual 3D CAD tube structure model for a single labial or lingual tube structure based upon said 3D CAD model, importing data related to the 3D CAD tube structure model into an additive manufacturing machine, and directly producing the tube with the additive manufacturing machine by layer manufacturing from an inorganic material including at least one of a ceramic, a polymer-derived ceramic, and a polymer-derived metal.

An orthodontic bracket for receiving an arch wire of orthodontic patients having both primary teeth and permanent teeth, the orthodontic bracket including a pad sized to fit on one of the primary teeth, the pad extending a first distance generally in a longitudinal direction and a second distance generally in a lateral direction, the first distance being greater than the second distance. An eyelet can extend from the pad, the eyelet including an aperture defined through the eyelet, the aperture having a central axis oriented transverse to the lateral direction. The aperture can slidingly receive the arch wire. A method including bonding the pad of the orthodontic bracket to one of the primary teeth of the patient.