An orthodontic anchor system may include an anchor system having an anchor system distal end and an anchor system proximal end. The anchor system may include an aligner receptacle, an aligner housing, an anchor mechanism, and an elastic band receptacle. The aligner housing may be configured to house an aligner. The anchor mechanism may be configured to house an elastic band. The aligner housing may be configured to house the aligner without requiring a modification of the aligner.

Embodiments of the present invention provide devices (tags), systems, and methods to determine structural integrity and other states of orthodontic-elements, such as orthodontic-brackets, orthodontic-archwires, orthodontic-expanders, orthodontic-elastic-bands, and orthodontic-power-chains, to name a few, in a non-invasive and contactless way, with respect to monitoring; and using comparatively safe and/or low energy electromagnetic radiation, such as radio waves. Negligible-sized backscatter-tags with sensors are implanted in or attached to such orthodontic-elements. Such arrangements may permit monitoring of forces acting on teeth by various orthodontic-elements. Using backscatter imaging technology, the structural integrity and other states of the orthodontic-elements may be monitored; which may allow non-invasive and contactless detection of problems such as cracking, bending, excessive pressure, improper temperature, and/or the like. Additionally, initially unknown locations of the implanted negligible-sized backscatter-tags with sensors may be readily determined upon a given scanning (reading) session; and thus mapped to provide an effective image of the orthodontic-elements.

The invention relates to an orthodontic device which is particularly economical and as small as possible, and which has hooks and a small tube, produced from a sheet metal plate using stamping and bending techniques and without the use of welding or soldering. The orthodontic device comprises a base plate having a flat region with a gingival and an occlusal edge. An occlusal rolling forms the small tube. The gingival edge has a counter-directional rolling. Concave cuts are formed in the side edges in order to form wing-shaped hooks. Both rollings can hold an applicator/protector, with which the orthodontic device is protected during adhesion, and can then be applied to a tooth in the correct orientation.

An orthodontic bracket that forms a slot for receiving an archwire. The slot extends through the orthodontic bracket along an archwire axis. The slot is delimited in directions radially of the archwire axis by a slot base surface, an opposite slot cover surface and two opposite slot side surfaces. Further, the slot has an open side that is provided by a gap within one of the slot side surfaces in a dimension along the archwire axis.

One aspect of the present invention is a self-ligation type orthodontic bracket which has a simple structure and in which a shutter can be reliably opened and closed, and fixed. The orthodontic bracket is provided with: a bracket body having a slot to which a wire is attached and an introduction port connected to the slot; a shutter provided between the slot and the introduction port to be able to move forward and backward; and a stopper wire which is attached to the bracket body and prevents the shutter from detaching. The stopper wire is elastic. Both end parts of the stopper wire are supported by the bracket body. When the shutter is closed, the central part of the stopper wire is located at a position which blocks the path along which the shutter moves forward and backward.

An aligner including a feature positioned on or in at least one of the buccal sidewall or lingual sidewall of the aligner that is configured to attach to an elastic member. The aligner applies a greater corrective force to a patient's dentition when the elastic member is attached. The feature may include a protrusion in the sidewall with an opening to a space configured to receive and attach to an elastic member hook coupled to the elastic member. The feature may include a through-bore in the sidewall that is configured to receive and attach to the elastic member. The feature may include an add-on hook on the sidewall that is configured to receive and attach to the elastic member. The add-on hook may be positioned on a protrusion in the sidewall. The protrusion may receive and engage with a dental attachment positioned on a surface of a patient's tooth.

Orthodontic arch wires with specific shapes and bends designed to encourage expansion of the posterior teeth while preventing the flaring of anterior teeth during the alignment phase. The arch wires divide the dentition into sections and treat each section differently so as to minimize undesirable effects during the alignment process. While the arch wires of the present invention are used to improve mechanics with non-extraction, they can also be used in extraction cases to avoid round tripping and some iatrogenic side effects that can occur by engaging all the teeth at the same time. The arch wires of the present invention can be preformed or customized to each case. The arch wires of the present invention are generally of two types referred to as sectional (S-RA) wires and consolidation (C-RA) wires.

An orthodontic aligner includes an aligner body configured for receiving upper teeth or lower teeth. The aligner body has a facial surface, a lingual surface, a gingival edge, and an incisal edge. A hook is integrally formed on either the facial surface or the lingual surface of the aligner body. The hook is configured so that an elastic band can be removably attached thereto. The hook is positioned between the gingival edge and the incisal edge of the aligner body. The hook protrudes at an angle relative to the surface of the aligner body. The angle may be between 20 and 60 degrees. The aligner body and the hook are formed simultaneously during manufacturing.

The invention relates to a sensor (1) for fastening to a multi-bracket appliance for the upper jaw (2), to a multi-bracket appliance for the lower jaw (3), to an aligner for the upper jaw (2′) and/or to an aligner for the lower jaw (3′), in order to measure the time span during which a force is applied to a pressure, tension and/or shear-force sensor (11) of the sensor (1), whereby the wearing duration of orthodontic elastics (4) for multi-bracket appliances (2, 3) and/or aligners (2′, 3′) can be monitored, the sensor (1) being a sensor that is independent of the multi-bracket appliance (2, 3) and the brackets (23) and including a timer, a microcontroller having a data memory, and an elastic holder (16) and/or elastic guide (17). The invention further relates to a system (5) for monitoring the wearing duration of orthodontic elastics, including the sensor (1), a multi-bracket apparatus or an aligner for the upper jaw (2, 2′) and the lower jaw (3, 3′), an elastic (4) and an external reading device. The invention further relates to a method for monitoring the wearing duration of orthodontic elastics and to the use of the sensor (1) and of the system (5).

Self-activated orthodontic expander including a left frame and a right frame, where the left frame and right frame include, respectively, a left body and a right body, each having anchoring means for anchoring them to the teeth of a dental arch. The bodies have through holes oriented in a predetermined expansion direction, where the frames are slidably mounted along the expansion direction by guides inserted into the holes of the bodies. Elastic elements are arranged and acting between the frames. The guides are further constrained with each other by a bridge oriented orthogonally to the same guides and adapted to prevent the reciprocal movement of the guides.