Patent ID: 11890162
Assignee: ROBERT KELLEHER
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 10:
11. An apparatus for distalization or mesialization of molars in an upper dental arch of a mouth, comprising:
an apparatus body having an adjustment-drive mechanism, the adjustment-drive mechanism including rotatable shafts operable to move upon an orthodontic adjustment action;
a set of posterior arms coupled to the adjustment-drive mechanism of the apparatus body and attachable to molar teeth in the upper dental arch, the set of posterior arms comprising (i) a first rigid arm that spans from the apparatus body to a first molar tooth and (ii) a second rigid arm that spans from the apparatus body to a second molar tooth;
a set of anterior arms coupled to the apparatus body and attachable to non-molar teeth in the upper dental arch, the set of anterior arms comprising (i) a third rigid arm that spans from the apparatus body to a first non-molar tooth and (ii) a fourth rigid arm that spans from the apparatus body to a second non-molar tooth; and
an anchorage device including one or both of a pin and a pad coupled to the apparatus body and attachable to a bone in the mouth,
wherein the set of posterior arms are configured to transfer a force onto the molar teeth when the adjustment-drive mechanism is actuated to cause movement of the molar teeth in the upper dental arch in a direction determined by actuation of the adjustment-drive mechanism, and
wherein the anchorage device is operable to positionally stabilize the apparatus body and the set of anterior arms to reduce force potentially applied to the non-molar teeth to prevent movement of the non-molar teeth in the upper dental arch,
wherein the adjustment-drive mechanism includes a rack and pinion assembly comprising a first rack and pinion set and a second rack and pinion set configured perpendicular to the first rack and pinion set, where each of the first and second rack and pinion sets has one of the rotatable shafts and a pinion gear at a first end of the rotatable shaft that interfaces with a rack gear having a linear array of rack teeth, wherein, when the rotatable shaft is rotated in a first rotation direction, the adjustment-drive mechanism translates rotational motion of the rotatable shaft into linear motion to generate the force to cause the movement of the molar teeth in the upper dental arch.