Method of assembling a distalizer comprising a mesial element and a distal element, and an arm connecting the distal element with the mesial element, the arm comprising a ball member at one end of the arm and the distal element comprising a receptacle for receiving said ball member, the method comprising providing the distal element with an opening of the receptacle that is large enough to introduce the ball member substantially without deformation, providing the arm with the ball member, introducing the ball member into the receptacle, and reducing the opening of the receptacle. The disclosure further relates to a distalizer obtainable by such a method.

Methods of forming wire attachment appliances. Methods may include forming a shell having multiple cavities and an attachment material reservoir within a first cavity of the multiple cavities. The attachment material reservoir may be positioned such that, when the wire attachment appliance is positioned on a dental arch, an attachment material provided within the attachment material reservoir is arranged to contact a surface of a particular tooth for attaching a wire to the particular tooth. Forming the wire attachment appliance may further include forming at least two wire attachment members on an interior surface of at least two second cavities of the multiple cavities. The at least two wire attachment members may be shaped to hold the wire in position with respect to the particular tooth.

A method for producing a dental shaped body from a blank that has a corpus of tooth restoration material by a tool adapted to remove the material. To detect a position of the corpus inserted in a machining device, contact scanning is performed on the blank by the tool. At least one dimension of the blank corpus is detected, and the machining tool is prepositioned for a contacting operation according to the detected at least one dimension of the blank corpus.

An abutment connecting a crown that forms an external form of an artificial tooth to a fixture embedded in a gum of a human, having a body, a combination portion formed at an end of the body and combined with the fixture, a threaded portion formed at the body and penetrating through the body, a fixing screw being inserted into the threaded portion to couple the body to a processing device or a jig, a coupling hole formed at the body and penetrating through the body, a coupling unit being inserted into the coupling hole to connect the body and the fixture, and a sectional surface formed at an opposite portion to the combination portion and connected to the processing device or the jig, to position the body in the processing device or in the jig when the body is coupled to the processing device or the jig.

A crimp stop is made of a metal formed member having a U-shaped cross-section. The metal formed member has a size and shape configured to receive an orthodontic archwire into the U-shaped cross-section and configured to be crimped onto the orthodontic archwire so as to maintain position of the metal formed member after being crimped on the orthodontic archwire by friction. The metal formed member has a curved portion and a pair of legs attached to the curved portion; the legs are not parallel to each other and diverge at an angle.

An apparatus and method for bending or shaping orthodontic archwires or other medical devices into a complex, patient individual shape is described. The apparatus comprises of two moveable, compact, manipulators with, in total, at least three revolute joints defining three rotation axes and at least three prismatic joints defining at least three translation axes. Gripping tools are provided on the manipulators. The two manipulators are arranged to allow a relative movement in six degrees of freedom. A reduced complexity embodiment is also described having only one or two revolute joints.

Endodontic instruments for use in performing root canal therapy on a tooth are disclosed. In one form, the instruments include an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank comprises a titanium alloy, and the shank is prepared by heat-treating the shank at a temperature above 25? C. in an atmosphere consisting essentially of a gas unreactive with the shank. In another form, the endodontic instruments have an elongate shank having a cutting edge extending from a distal end of the shank along an axial length of the shank. The shank consists essentially of a titanium alloy selected from alpha-titanium alloys, beta-titanium alloys, and alpha-beta-titanium alloys. The instruments solve the problems encountered when cleaning and enlarging a curved root canal.

An apparatus and method for bending or shaping orthodontic archwires or other medical devices into a complex, patient individual shape is described. The apparatus comprises of two moveable, compact, manipulators with, in total, at least three revolute joints defining three rotation axes and at least three prismatic joints defining at least three translation axes. Gripping tools are provided on the manipulators. The two manipulators are arranged to allow a relative movement in six degrees of freedom. A reduced complexity embodiment is also described having only one or two revolute joints.

A carrier for at least one fastening element (4) to be fabricated having an attachment area whereby the carrier is provided with a holding piece (3) for attachment in a receiving part of a finishing machine and whereby the carrier includes a carrier piece (2) for the fastening element (4) and the carrier piece (2) is embedded at least partially in the carrier piece (2) in a manner so that the attachment area (4b) of the fastening element (4) can be fabricated. A method for producing a fastening element (4) to be finished and to be attached to an individual surface whereby the contour of the attachment area is defined with the aid of data of the surface onto which the fastening element (4) is to be attached and whereby a pre-shaped, not yet individualized fastening element (4) is formed by removal of material to produce the specific contour. Furthermore, an auxiliary positioning part (21) is provided with a contour that is continued by the contour of the attachment area, which is also defined by the surface onto which the fastening element (4) is to be attached.

Appliances and related methods use a resilient retention member that is retained in a recess within a body that is optionally made from a suitably translucent ceramic material. The retention member, optionally in combination with one or more side walls of the recess, provides two or more regions for accommodating a protrusion. The protrusion, in turn, is part of a sliding door which can be opened or closed depending on the equilibrium position of the protrusion with respect to the two or more regions. Based on the engagement between the protrusion and the retention member, these appliances can provide discrete opened and closed door positions to facilitate archwire ligation.