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:
Sep. 24, 2024
Filed:
Jan. 27, 2023
Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Avi Kopelman, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ryan Kimura, San Jose, CA (US);
Yaser Shanjani, Milpitas, CA (US);
Jeremy Riley, Mountain View, CA (US);
Jun Sato, San Jose, CA (US);
Bob Grove, San Jose, CA (US);
Reza Shirazi Aghjari, San Jose, CA (US);
Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Palatal expander systems and methods. A palatal expander includes a palatal region connecting tooth engagement regions, where the palatal region is configured to apply a lateral force across a patient's palate when the tooth engagement regions are worn over the patient's teeth. Attachment regions on buccal sides of the tooth engagement regions are shaped and sized to engage with dental attachments bonded to the patient's teeth. At least one breach region corresponding to a thinned region of the palatal expander extends anteriorly to posteriorly in the palatal region or an occlusal portion of one or both of the tooth engagement regions. The at least one breach region is configured to breach or bend when a pulling force is applied to one or both of the tooth engagement regions such that one or both of the attachment regions are detached from respective attachments.