The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 11, 2021
Filed:
Oct. 11, 2018
Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Peter Webber, Lafayette, CA (US);
Jennifer C. Chen, Alhambra, CA (US);
Yan Chen, Cupertino, CA (US);
Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method includes forming a plastic orthodontic aligner having a plurality of cavities shaped to receive at least portions of a plurality of teeth of a patient. A first segment of the plastic orthodontic aligner corresponds to a first subset of the plurality of cavities for moving a first subset of the plurality of teeth of the patient. A second segment of the plastic orthodontic aligner corresponds to a second subset of the plurality of cavities. The method further includes removing a first portion of the plastic orthodontic aligner between the first and second segments of the plastic orthodontic aligner to form a connector to minimize force transmission between the first and second segments. The connector is configured to be disposed along one or more additional teeth to span a gap between the first and second segments without exerting a clinically significant force on the one or more additional teeth.