Methods of forming dental positioning appliances, such as removable mesh dental appliances. Methods may include forming one or more dies based on a digital three-dimensional model of one or more teeth. Methods may include applying a mesh material onto one or more dies having a three-dimensional shape corresponding to one or more teeth and shaping the mesh material via interaction with the one or more dies to conform to one or more surfaces of one or more teeth. The mesh material may be shaped to conform to an inside, an outside, and/or a biting surface of one or more teeth. The methods may include encapsulating the shaped mesh material into a polymer shell to form a dental positioning appliance.

Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic system including a tactile object is provided for modulating an engagement between a tooth attachment and an orthodontic appliance.

Appliances for orthodontic treatment are provided. In some embodiments, an orthodontic appliance includes a shell having a plurality of teeth-receiving cavities shaped to reposition a patient’s teeth from a first arrangement toward a second arrangement. The shell can have a first elasticity. The appliance can include an attachment-receiving well formed in the shell. The attachment-receiving well can be configured to engage an attachment coupled to a tooth of the patient. The appliance can further include at least one tactile object coupled to the attachment-receiving well. The at least one tactile object can include an elongate body that extends toward the attachment when the shell is worn on the patient’s teeth. The at least one tactile object can have a second elasticity greater than the first elasticity.

Embodiments are provided for utilizing metallic portions in dental positioning appliances. One embodiment includes a removable dental positioning appliance having a shell having one or more cavities shaped to receive and reposition one or more teeth from a first orientation to a successive orientation and where at least a portion of the shell is formed from a mesh material.

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.

Various features are provided for a custom orthodontic appliance manufacturing or designing system. These include features for inputting of data of patient anatomy and practitioner decisions, features for interactively or automatically manipulating data to arrive at applicant characteristics, and features for affecting design or manufacture of the appliance.

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.

Rapid palatal expander made of a first and a second main body (5, 6) provided with aligned female threads (7, 8) that are engaged by the threaded stems (4) of an actuator element (2). This actuator element (2) is provided with a drive head (3) from which the stems (4) extend in opposite directions and aligned with opposite threads. Following the rotation of the drive head (2) the main bodies (5, 6) move parallel to the longitudinal extension direction Y of the actuator element (2). During the movement the main bodies (5, 6) are guided by a first and a second pair of rods (11, 12), which are fixed in a single body with the first and the second main body (5, 6), respectively, and are slidably mutually engaged with each other.

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.

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.