Align Technology, Inc.

Ken Wu

Crystal Tjhia

Eric Yau

Mitra Derakhshan

Jun Sato

Ryan Kimura

Eric E Kuo

Chunhua Li

John Y Morton

Allen R Boronkay

Yaser Shanjani

Peter Webber

Bruce Cam

Yuxiang Wang

Rohit Tanugula

Gleb Krivovyaz

Jon F Moss

Bastien Pesenti

Heng Cao

Jeremy Riley

Siobhan O'leary

Kangning Su

Juan Carlos Alvarez

Zhaonan Sun

Jessica H Schiltz

Andrei Soldatov

Srinivas Kaza

Li-Hung Su

Subir Basu

Fred Ting

Ankit Shukla

Jessica I Schiltz

Methods of fabricating orthodontic alignment devices. First forces may be applied to teeth of a digital model to simulate movement of the teeth from one stage of an ordered sequence of stages to a next stage. The first forces may include one or more unwanted forces that move one or more teeth of the digital model in an unwanted direction. One or more forces may be applied to the palate of the digital model that results in second forces applied to the teeth of the digital model to replace or offset the one or more unwanted forces. A shape for the orthodontic alignment device may be determined based on the first and second forces applied to the teeth and in combination with the one or more forces applied to the palate of the digital model. An orthodontic alignment device may be fabricated based on the determined shape.

Methods of forming orthodontic devices with palatal anchorage

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

A set of stabilizer aligners includes an upper stabilizer aligner for an upper dental arch of a patient and a lower stabilizer aligner for a lower dental arch of the patient. The upper stabilizer aligner comprises a first set of cavities that conform to a dentition of the upper dental arch and a first set of stabilizing features. The lower stabilizer aligner comprises a second set of cavities that conform to a dentition of the lower dental arch and a second set of stabilizing features. Stabilizing features in the second set of stabilizing features are configured to contact opposing stabilizing features in the first set of stabilizing features. The upper stabilizer aligner and the lower stabilizer aligner prevent jaw movement of the patient while the upper stabilizer aligner is worn on the upper dental arch, the lower stabilizer aligner is worn on the lower dental arch, and the upper stabilizer aligner is engaged with the lower stabilizer aligner.

Surgical stabilizer aligner sets

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 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

Dental aligner storage case

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

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.

An orthodontic alignment device can have a palatal contour anchorage (PCA) feature that generally matches the shape of the patient's hard pallet. This PCA feature may be built slightly off-set to deliberately push against the patient's palate and/or gingiva to provide anchorage support of staged translation of the teeth. By transferring the required anchorage away from the teeth and onto the palate, through the PCA feature, the adjacent teeth are no longer subjected to unwanted side effects of reaction forces.

Palatal contour anchorage

Embodiments relate to aligners that are capable of immobilizing a patient's jaw after orthognathic surgery while also applying forces to reposition a patient's teeth. In embodiments, a processor determines, for a treatment stage, a dentition for an upper dental arch and a lower dental arch. The processor applies one or more stabilizing features to the upper dental arch and the lower dental arch. The processor determines whether the one or more stabilizing features will prevent jaw movement while the upper dental arch is engaged with the lower dental arch. Responsive to a determination that the one or more stabilizing features will prevent the jaw movement, the processor stores a first digital model comprising the dentition for the upper arch and the one or more stabilizing features for the upper arch and stores a second digital model comprising the planned dentition for the lower arch and the one or more stabilizing features for the lower arch for each increment of treatment.

Surgical stabilizer aligner

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Ken Wu