An oral appliance having an upper tray, a lower tray, and axial inserts attached to either the upper tray or lower tray to adjust the relative position of a user's upper jaw and lower jaw in order to treat sleep apnea and/or snoring while at the same time allowing orthodontic treatment of the subject.

Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic tracking template is provided for assisting in determining whether a patient's teeth are in an appropriate tooth arrangement for transitioning between a wire and bracket orthodontic treatment to a patient-removable orthodontic appliance treatment. The tracking template may include a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities arranged to fit over at least a portion of the patient's teeth in an intermediate tooth arrangement without applying a tooth-moving force to the teeth or to any brackets attached to the teeth.

Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic tracking template is provided for assisting in determining whether a patient's teeth are in an appropriate tooth arrangement for transitioning between a wire and bracket orthodontic treatment to a patient-removable orthodontic appliance treatment. The tracking template may include a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities arranged to fit over at least a portion of the patient's teeth in an intermediate tooth arrangement without applying a tooth-moving force to the teeth or to any brackets attached to the teeth.

Releasable and removable palatal expander apparatuses for expanding a patient's palate (“palatal expanders”) and methods of using and making them. These releasable palatal expanders are adapted for ease in removal by the patient or caregiver, and may include a breach region configured to predictably bend or break when a pulling force is applied. The palatal expander apparatuses described herein may include one or more locks for locking the palatal expander onto the patient's teeth. The lock(s) may be unlocked to release the palatal expander from the teeth. A lock may include a control for manually unlocking the lock. Unlocking the locks may allow the palatal expander to automatically disengage from the patient's teeth.

Provided herein are exemplary orthodontic elastic attachments that are customized to fit within the cutout windows of dental aligners, thus improving adhesion and minimizing inadvertent detachment from the tooth surface. The unique base pads are designed to have a shape that complements the present shape of the cutout windows like a puzzle piece. To improve adhesion to the tooth surface, the base pad may have its surface area maximized within the cutout windows. Also for improved adhesion, the base pad may be contoured to the dental anatomy of the tooth at the gumline for an intimate fit. Further exemplary embodiments may include the base pad having beveled edges to permit the aligner to slide over the base pad if it is adhered slightly off-center.

Provided herein are exemplary orthodontic elastic attachments that are customized to fit within the cutout windows of dental aligners, thus improving adhesion and minimizing inadvertent detachment from the tooth surface. The unique base pads are designed to have a shape that complements the present shape of the cutout windows like a puzzle piece. To improve adhesion to the tooth surface, the base pad may have its surface area maximized within the cutout windows. Also for improved adhesion, the base pad may be contoured to the dental anatomy of the tooth at the gumline for an intimate fit. Further exemplary embodiments may include the base pad having beveled edges to permit the aligner to slide over the base pad if it is adhered slightly off-center.

A butterfly attachment to guide a clear aligner to grip a tooth. The butterfly attachment is formed by two substantially quarter sphere units, wherein each unit has a convex surface and a concave surface. The two units are merged at their convex edge mid portions, such that the convex surfaces are continuous and forms a front face resembling a valley shape. The rear face of the butterfly attachment formed by the concave surfaces is also continuous and concave that corresponds to contours of the tooth.

A butterfly attachment to guide a clear aligner to grip a tooth. The butterfly attachment is formed by two substantially quarter sphere units, wherein each unit has a convex surface and a concave surface. The two units are merged at their convex edge mid portions, such that the convex surfaces are continuous and forms a front face resembling a valley shape. The rear face of the butterfly attachment formed by the concave surfaces is also continuous and concave that corresponds to contours of the tooth.

A system includes an orientation determination system comprising a camera where the camera is configured to capture an image of an orientation feature of a physical dental model of a dental arch of a customer with material thermoformed thereon. The orientation determination system is configured to identify an offset of the physical dental model with respect to a fixture plate during positioning or before or after the physical dental model is positioned on the fixture plate by determining an actual orientation of the physical dental model based on the orientation feature. The system also includes a laser trimming system configured to cut the material along a trim line based on the identified offset while the fixture plate is moved about at least two axes to produce a dental aligner specific to the customer and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the customer.

A system includes an orientation determination system comprising a camera where the camera is configured to capture an image of an orientation feature of a physical dental model of a dental arch of a customer with material thermoformed thereon. The orientation determination system is configured to identify an offset of the physical dental model with respect to a fixture plate during positioning or before or after the physical dental model is positioned on the fixture plate by determining an actual orientation of the physical dental model based on the orientation feature. The system also includes a laser trimming system configured to cut the material along a trim line based on the identified offset while the fixture plate is moved about at least two axes to produce a dental aligner specific to the customer and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the customer.