Align Technology, Inc.

Crystal Tjhia

Rohit Tanugula

Peter Webber

Ken Wu

Chunhua Li

Eric Yau

Bruce Cam

Mitra Derakhshan

John Y Morton

Dennis Te

Jun Sato

Shiva Prasad Sambu

Eric E Kuo

Allen R Boronkay

Yuxiang Wang

Vadim Matov

Yaser Shanjani

Ryan Kimura

Gleb Krivovyaz

Yan Chen

Bastien Pesenti

Jennifer C Chen

Jeremy Riley

Siobhan O'leary

Kangning Su

Zhaonan Sun

Jessica H Schiltz

Andrei Soldatov

Michael Christopher Cole

Umesh Upendra Choudhary

Huizhong Li

Jessica I Schiltz

Materials and additively manufactured objects including mechanically interlocking elements are provided. In some embodiments, a dental appliance includes an appliance body made at least partially out of a composite material. The composite material can include an interlocking structure having a plurality of interlocking elements. The interlocking structure can have a first mechanical property. The composite material can also include a matrix surrounding at least a portion of the interlocking structure. The matrix can have a second mechanical property different from the first mechanical property.

Materials and additively manufactured objects with mechanically interlocking elements

A method includes determining a first shape of a main body of a mold associated with a dental arch for a patient. The method further includes determining a second shape of a separable feature of the mold. The method further includes determining a third shape and configuration of a receiving element of the main body to receive the separable feature. The method further includes outputting instructions for fabricating the separable feature and the main body that includes the receiving element for receiving the separable feature.

Mold with receiving element and separable features

A dental attachment placement device comprises a plurality of articulated registration elements shaped for placement on a plurality of teeth, which can facilitate placement, accommodate tooth movement, and improve alignment of the registration elements with the teeth, so as to accurately position an attachment for placement. The plurality of registration elements may comprise one or more attachment supports and one or more retention supports extending from the plurality of registration elements. A dental attachment can be removably coupled to the attachment support. The plurality of registration elements and attachment supports may be located on opposing sides of one or more teeth in order to maintain placement prior to adhering the attachment to the tooth. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of registration elements comprises a tooth registration surface shaped to engage the tooth with a specific position and orientation for accurate positioning of the attachment.

Flexible 3D printed orthodontic device with flexible arms

Improved systems, methods, and devices for treating sleep apnea are provided herein. In one aspect, an intraoral appliance for treating sleep apnea in a patient comprises an appliance shell comprising a plurality of cavities shaped to receive teeth of a jaw of the patient. The appliance shell can comprise an advancement structure arranged to interact with an opposing jaw of the patient so as to displace the lower jaw anteriorly relative to the upper jaw. The plurality of cavities can comprise cavity geometries shaped to reduce repositioning of one or more received teeth elicited by displacement of the lower jaw anteriorly relative to the upper jaw.

Systems and methods for mandibular advancement

A system for correcting malocclusions may include a maxillary appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of a maxilla and a first elastic coupling at gingival line of the maxillary appliance. The first elastic coupling may be configured for receiving an elastic. The system may also include mandibular appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of a mandible. The system may also include a corrective appliance having a first coupling configured to be coupled to the mandibular appliance at a first location on a first side of incisors of a patient and a second coupling configured to be coupled to the mandibular appliance on a second side of the incisors, and having an arm extending from the corrective appliance towards the gingival line of the maxillary appliance and being shaped to receive the elastic.

Orthodontic appliance systems for correcting malocclusions

A dental apparatus may include a removable orthodontic appliance having a buccal side and a lingual side and may include tooth cavities shaped to reposition one or more teeth of a patient. The dental appliance may also include a repositioning jaw element extending from the buccal or lingual side of the removable orthodontic appliance and a reinforcement member formed along at least one of a lingual side surface or a buccal side surface to reinforce the repositioning jaw element. The reinforcement member may include a channel extending in a gingival-occlusal direction across an occlusal surface of the tooth apertures of the shell. The channel may be open to an interior cavity of the repositioning jaw element.

Dental appliances with repositioning jaw elements

A method may include identifying a jaw position of a misaligned jaw of a patient from the virtual image of the patient's jaw and providing a treatment plan. The treatment plan may include tooth repositioning forces and jaw repositioning forces. The method may also include virtually modeling application of jaw repositioning forces between a first repositioning jaw element and a second repositioning jaw element to obtain a virtual model of the application of the jaw repositioning forces on the virtual model of the patient's jaw, identifying one or more constraints limiting the application of the jaw repositioning forces to the misaligned jaw, and adjusting the first repositioning jaw element and the second repositioning jaw element to accommodate the one or more constraints.

Methods and devices for jaw repositioning

Flexible 3D printed orthodontic device with attachment supports

A mold includes a first section, a second section, and a weakened region that joins the first section to the second section. The weakened region is breakable, deflectable, or deformable in response to a first threshold force to enable the first section to be removed from a shell independently of the second section after the shell is formed over the mold. The first threshold force is less than a second threshold force that would damage or permanently deform the shell. The first section is a first mold of at least a portion of one or more first teeth of a dental arch and the second section is a second mold of at least a portion of one or more second teeth of the dental arch.

Generating a virtual 3D model of a mold

A system for correcting class III malocclusions is disclosed. The system may include a maxilla appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of the maxilla and a first coupling for receiving an elastic. The system may also include a mandibular appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of the mandible. In some embodiments, the system includes a class III corrective appliance having a first mount shaped to engage with the mandibular arch of the patient and having a second coupling shaped to receive the elastic.

Systems and methods for correcting malocclusions of teeth

Systems, methods, and devices for applying distributed forces for mandibular advancement

The present disclosure provides method, computing device readable medium, and devices for dental appliances with repositioning jaw elements. An example of a removable dental appliance includes a shell having a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and reposition a number of teeth of a patient along one jaw of a patient, a repositioning jaw element that extends from a buccal or lingual surface of the shell, the element having a first outer surface oriented to face the tongue of the patient surface and a second outer surface oriented to face the cheek of the patient, and a reinforcement member formed along at least one of the first and second outer surfaces to provide reinforcement of the repositioning jaw element.

The present disclosure provides method, computing device readable medium, and devices for dental appliances with repositioning jaw elements. An example of a method can include identifying a misaligned jaw of a patient from a virtual image of the patient's jaw, and providing a treatment plan for the patient including a virtual model of a dental appliance having a first shell and a second shell configured to reposition at least one tooth of the patient. The virtual model of the dental appliance including repositioning jaw elements on the first shell and the second shell configured to move a position of the misaligned jaw of the patient.

Dental appliance with repositioning jaw elements

The present disclosure provides method, computing device readable medium, and devices for dental appliances with repositioning jaw elements. An example of a method can include identifying a misaligned jaw of a patient from a virtual image of the patient's jaw, providing a treatment plan for the patient including a virtual model of a dental appliance having a first shell and a second shell configured to reposition at least one tooth of the patient, and adjusting the position of the repositioning jaw elements on the first shell and the second shell to comply with a number of constraints. The virtual model of the dental appliance including repositioning jaw elements on the first shell and the second shell configured to move a position of the misaligned jaw of the patient.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Crystal Tjhia