An instrument for facilitating opening of a ligating member for an orthodontic bracket. The instrument includes one tip designed to engage an opening feature on a labial side of a ligating door of the orthodontic bracket, and another tip designed to sit underneath a tie wing formed on a body of the orthodontic bracket. When the instrument is in position against the orthodontic bracket, squeezing together the handles results in the tips applying a reciprocal force on the ligating door and the bracket body to open the ligating door along the occlusal direction.

A method of treating or self-treating an orthodontic patient wearing braces or aligners to straighten their teeth using an orthodontic tool in the form of a tool set having at least three arms coupled together at one end by a fastener. The arms are rotatably movable about the fastener. One arm of the tool set has a sanding tool. Another arm has a hook. A third arm has a pick. The method includes utilizing the tool set by extending one of the arms outwardly from the other arms and inserting the leading end of the arm into the patient's mouth to perform the function.

A method of treating or self-treating an orthodontic patient wearing braces or aligners to straighten their teeth using an orthodontic tool in the form of a tool set having at least three arms coupled together at one end by a fastener. The arms are rotatably movable about the fastener. One arm of the tool set has a sanding tool. Another arm has a hook. A third arm has a pick. The method includes utilizing the tool set by extending one of the arms outwardly from the other arms and inserting the leading end of the arm into the patient's mouth to perform the function.

Systems and methods are disclosed to prevent interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model by acquiring the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models and digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates. The meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion. The method also includes calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes to quantify the interference of the two physical tooth models.

Systems and methods are disclosed to prevent interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model by acquiring the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models and digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates. The meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion. The method also includes calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes to quantify the interference of the two physical tooth models.

An orthodontic bracket and archform system that uses friction-free mechanics are disclosed. The archform can have a male fastener that can be retained within an orthodontic bracket. The orthodontic bracket can have varying locking mechanism, such as deflectable tabs, springs, locking pins, and others, that can cooperate with features of the male fastener to prevent sliding between the archform and the bracket.

An orthodontic tool includes a trimmer having a lever, a base, and a spring positioned between the lever and the base. A first substantially transversely extending portion extends from the lever and a second substantially transversely extending portion extends from the base. A cutting surface is associated with each transversely extending portion. The orthodontic tool also includes a tool set having at least two arms coupled together at one end by a fastener and the arms including two or more of a sanding tool, a hook, and a pick.

An orthodontic tool includes a trimmer having a lever, a base, and a spring positioned between the lever and the base. A first substantially transversely extending portion extends from the lever and a second substantially transversely extending portion extends from the base. A cutting surface is associated with each transversely extending portion. The orthodontic tool also includes a tool set having at least two arms coupled together at one end by a fastener and the arms including two or more of a sanding tool, a hook, and a pick.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to devices and a method for orthodontic torquing. For the various embodiments, a pliers for crimping coils of an orthodontic torquing spring to an arch wire includes: a pair of plier halves, each of the plier halves including a handle, a jaw, and a pivot section, each of the jaws including a crimping face defined by a distal edge having a length in a range of 200 percent to 400 percent of a diameter of the orthodontic spring, a first lateral edge, and a second lateral edge, the edges defined by a radius of curvature in a range of 0.1 millimeters to 0.5 millimeters, a textured surface on at least one of the crimping faces to frictionally engage the coil of the orthodontic spring, and a pivot joint connecting the pivot sections of the pair of plier halves such that the handles can be manipulated to cause the crimping faces of the jaws to move together to crimp a coil of the orthodontic torquing spring to the arch wire.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to devices and a method for orthodontic torquing. For the various embodiments, a pliers for crimping coils of an orthodontic torquing spring to an arch wire includes: a pair of plier halves, each of the plier halves including a handle, a jaw, and a pivot section, each of the jaws including a crimping face defined by a distal edge having a length in a range of 200 percent to 400 percent of a diameter of the orthodontic spring, a first lateral edge, and a second lateral edge, the edges defined by a radius of curvature in a range of 0.1 millimeters to 0.5 millimeters, a textured surface on at least one of the crimping faces to frictionally engage the coil of the orthodontic spring, and a pivot joint connecting the pivot sections of the pair of plier halves such that the handles can be manipulated to cause the crimping faces of the jaws to move together to crimp a coil of the orthodontic torquing spring to the arch wire.