Patent ID: 8356993
Filing Date: 2013-01-22
Classification: A61C,B33Y

Abstract:
1. A method of fitting a patient with a removable orthodontic appliance to move a patient's teeth, comprising: taking an impression of a dental arch to be treated; pouring the impression to create a dental casting; marking a point on a buccal surface of the dental casting indicative of a desired bracket location; removably attaching lingual clips to a lingual tooth surface of the dental casting; thermoforming a plastic sheet over the dental casting with said lingual clips in place; tightly adapting the thermoformed plastic sheet, while still warm, around the lingual clips to form a clear aligner; trimming away gross excess plastic of the clear aligner from around the dental casting; attaching a bracket to the clear aligner at a position corresponding to said marking; cutting sections of the clear aligner that correspond to individual teeth to form discrete sleeves, each of said sleeves being receivable on a corresponding tooth; removing each of the sleeves from the dental casting; bonding the lingual clips to the lingual surface of the patient's teeth while the sleeve is placed onto the tooth; reinstalling the sleeves to the dental casting; and ligating an orthodontic wire to each bracket.