Patent ID: 11931223
Assignee: ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  B  G | IPC A  B  G

Claim 15:
16. A three-dimensionally (3D) printed aligner comprising:
a plurality of additively manufactured layers; and
a 3D printed body composed of the plurality of additively manufactured layers, wherein the 3D printed body comprises a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities shaped to receive and to reposition a corresponding plurality of a patient's dentition from a first arrangement toward a second arrangement, wherein all of the tooth-receiving cavities are formed only from the plurality of additively manufactured layers, wherein the 3D printed body comprises an adaptive cellular structure composed of 100 to 10,000 additively manufactured layers of the plurality of additively manufactured layers, and wherein the adaptive cellular structure includes a network of interconnected unit cells having a cell distribution providing a selected spatial distribution of at least one mechanical property along one or more physical dimensions of the 3D printed aligner,
wherein the adaptive cellular structure is characterized by a porosity selected from a range from 25% to 75%, wherein the porosity is the volume of void space of the adaptive cellular structure divided by the volume of the adaptive cellular structure,
wherein the adaptive cellular structure comprises a material having an apparent Young's modulus within a range from 100 MPa to 5000 MPa, and
wherein the 3D printed body comprises a non-linear force-strain profile comprising a force within a range from 5 N to 12.5 N over a strain within a range from 0.02 to 0.12.