Adjustable orthodontic bracket

This invention provides an adjustable orthodontic bracket. The adjustable orthodontic bracket includes an orthodontic arch wire slot/tube and fixing part, an adjustable part, and a tooth surface fixing part. The orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part is used to fix one or several orthodontic arch wire(s). The adjustable part is fixed under the orthodontic arch wire slot/tube and fixing part and provides a structure allowing the orthodontic arch wire slot/tube and fixing part to be turned around and fixed, and thereby the orthodontic arch wire slot/tube and fixing part is able to generate a stress to teeth for orthodontic treatment through turning itself around to pull and drag the orthodontic arch wire(s). The tooth surface fixing part is used to fix the adjustable part on tooth surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to an orthodontic appliance, and more particularly, to an adjustable bracket for orthodontics.

2. Description of the Prior Art

For the clinic tasks in orthodontics, the orthodontic processes for uprighting tipping teeth or making teeth tilting for some purpose or technique have the highest percentage, and these tasks also spend a lot of clinic time, especially, during the middle stage, later stage of the orthodontic treatment or the finishing stage. The well-known brackets for uprighting the irregular teeth or the horizontal wisdom tooth are not easy to engage the orthodontic arch wire(s) (while the tipping angle is between 30-90 degrees, the tooth is not easy to be or unable to be upright at once), even unable to install. Moreover, during the primary stage limited by the irregular teeth, if the orthodontic arch wire is too thin or too soft, the orthodontic arch wire could have the problems of easily loosing, lacking force, and no self-supporting. These problems delay the rate of the progress of the orthodontic treatment. The well-known orthodontic appliances also make teeth receive the force disproportionately, that is, the optimal force is not easy to be achieved. However, the disproportionate force and direction could make teeth hurt and make the orthodontic arch wire fatigue in elasticity and even snap. In addition, the bonding positions of the brackets must be accurate. As to those brackets with inaccurate position, they must be removed, re-bonded, or be recovered through bending the orthodontic arch wire, that is, this takes a lot of clinic time and requires practiced clinic skill, and further, the orthodontic arch wire bending in the orthodontic treatment requires various materials and various types of orthodontic arch wires. Still, the worst drawbacks of the well-known brackets are that they cannot meet the particular needs and are difficult to be fine adjusted. Explicitly, the finishing stage is not easy to be finished, and this process must take a lot of clinic time (30-60 minutes for each visit) and delays the time of debond, such as one year of orthodontic treatment being delayed to one-half and two years, even to the unforeseeable future.

In view of the drawbacks mentioned with the orthodontic bracket in the prior art, there is a continued need to develop a new and improved orthodontic bracket that overcomes the disadvantages associated with the bracket in the prior art. The advantages of this invention are that it solves the problems mentioned above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, an adjustable orthodontic bracket substantially obviates one or more of the problems resulted from the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art mentioned in the background.

This invention provides an adjustable orthodontic bracket. The adjustable orthodontic bracket includes an orthodontic arch wire slot/tube and fixing part, an adjustable part, and a tooth surface fixing part. The orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part with built-in three dimension angle slot(s) is used to house and fix one or more than one orthodontic arch wires. The forms of the orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part could be a slot and four-talon, liftable cover, or one or a plurality of tube structures. The adjustable part is fixed under the orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part and gives a structure allowing the orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part to be turned around and fixed, and thereby the orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing part can generate a stress to teeth for orthodontic treatment by turning itself around to pull and drag the orthodontic arch wire(s). The tooth surface fixing part is used to fix the adjustable part on tooth surface.

This invention provides an adjustable orthodontic bracket. The adjustable orthodontic bracket includes an orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing talon, a male gear ring, a housing, an elastomer, and a tooth surface fixing plank and base plate. The male gear ring is fixed under the orthodontic arch wire slot and fixing talon. The male gear ring has a smooth external ring surface and a male gear structure ring surface under the smooth external ring surface, wherein the diameter of the male gear structure ring surface is bigger than the diameter of the smooth external ring surface. The housing covers the male gear ring. The housing has a female gear structure ring surface and a smooth internal ring surface under the female gear structure ring surface. The diameter of the smooth internal ring surface is bigger than the diameter of the female gear structure ring surface, and the diameter of the female gear structure ring surface is bigger than the diameter of the upper open of the housing. Wherein, the female gear structure ring surface matches the male gear structure ring surface. The elastomer locates inside the housing and under the male gear ring. The tooth surface fixing plank and base plate locates under the elastomer and connects the base of the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail. However, it should be noted that the present invention can be practiced in a wide range of other embodiments besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present invention is expressly not limited except as specified in the accompanying claims. Moreover, some irrelevant details are not drawn in order to make the illustrations concise and to provide a clear description for easily understanding the present invention.

Referring toFIG. 1, teeth with orthodontic appliances are depicted. A plurality of brackets10correspondingly connect with a plurality of tooth surface fixing planks and base plates20in order to be fixed on the surfaces of teeth. An orthodontic arch wire30connects the brackets10to form the orthodontic arch wire to pull the tipping teeth back to normal positions by the pulling force of the orthodontic arch wire30.

Referring toFIG. 2, disassembled parts for one preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention are illustrated. A bracket10shown inFIG. 1has an orthodontic arch wire fixing part and an adjustable part. In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned orthodontic arch wire fixing part (having slots112and wings114) could be an orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110, the adjustable part could be a combination structure with a male gear ring120(also called “internal ring” herein), a housing130(also called “external ring” herein), and an elastomer140. Wherein, the male gear ring120is fixed under the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110. The male gear ring120has a smooth external ring surface122and a male gear structure ring surface124under the smooth external ring surface122, and herein the diameter of the male gear structure ring surface124is bigger than the diameter of the smooth external ring surface122. The housing130covers the male gear ring120. The housing130has a female gear structure ring surface132and a smooth internal ring surface134under the female gear structure ring surface132. Wherein, the diameter of the smooth internal ring surface134is bigger than the diameter of the female gear structure ring surface132, and the diameter of the female gear structure ring surface132is bigger than the diameter of the upper open136of the housing130. Further, in the present embodiment, the female gear structure ring surface134and the male gear structure ring surface124can match with each other. The elastomer140is located inside the housing130and under the male gear ring120. In the present embodiment, the elastomer140could be a sheetmetal with elasticity (such as a disc shape or with several slits) or a rubber sheet, thereby the sheetmetal with elasticity can provide a force to push the male gear ring120and the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110up to make the male gear structure ring surface124match with the female gear structure ring surface132when the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110is not pressed. This makes the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110be unable to turn around. In addition, the bracket in the present invention could further include a tooth surface fixing part used to fix the above-mentioned adjustable part on tooth surface. In the present embodiment, the tooth surface fixing part could be a tooth surface fixing plank20and base plate22located under the elastomer140and connected with the housing130.

Form another aspect, the above-mentioned orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing part is used to fix one or more than one orthodontic arch wire(s), and the adjustable part is fixed under the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing part. That is, the adjustable part gives a structure allowing the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing part to be turned around and fixed. Thereby, the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing part can generate a particular stress in a particular direction to teeth for orthodontic treatment by turning itself around to pull and drag the orthodontic arch wire. The tooth surface fixing part is utilized to fix the adjustable part on tooth surface. Further, the male gear ring120(also called “internal ring” herein) is fixed under the above-mentioned orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing part, and the lower level of the external ring surface of the internal ring has a plurality of male gear structures124surrounding with. The housing130(also called “external ring” herein) covers the internal ring and the upper level of the internal ring surface of the external ring has a plurality of female gear structures132surrounding with. Wherein, the diameter formed by the plurality of female gear structures132is smaller than the diameter of the internal ring surface of the external ring, the diameter of the upper open136of the external ring is smaller than the diameter formed by the plurality of female gear structures132, and the plurality of female structures132are able to match the plurality of male gear structures124. Also, the elastomer140is located inside the external ring and under the internal ring.

Referring toFIG. 3A, two three-dimensional pictures for two preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention are illustrated. The difference between the two embodiments is that the upper one shows an orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110(having two crossed slots112and four wings114), but the lower one depicts an orthodontic arch wire fixing tube115. However, regardless of the fixing talon, fixing tube, or other equivalent structure changes, those should be included in the present invention. The orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110or the orthodontic arch wire fixing tube115is fixed on the male gear ring. The housing130covers the male gear ring and connects to and is fixed on the tooth surface fixing plank20and base plate22. Since the diameter of the upper open136of the housing130is bigger than the diameter of the smooth external ring surface122of the male gear ring but smaller than the diameter of the male gear structure ring surface124(seeFIG. 2), the housing130could make a loop for the male gear ring.

Referring toFIGS. 3B-3C, the cutaway views in part for the embodiment shown inFIG. 3Aunder operation are illustrated. Wherein,FIG. 3Bdepicts the structure of the adjustable orthodontic bracket while the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110has no force applied on, andFIG. 3Cshows the structure change while the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110is pressed and rotated. The elastomer140provides a force to push the male gear ring (the smooth external ring surface122and the male gear structure ring surface124) and the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110up to make the male gear structure ring surface124match with the female gear structure ring surface132of the housing130when the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110is not pressed. This makes the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110fix and be unable to turn around, in the same time, the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110does not provide external force to pull or drag the orthodontic arch wire30. However, when a force is applied on the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110, the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110and the male gear ring (the smooth external ring surface122and the male gear structure ring surface124) compress the elastomer140. This makes the male gear structure ring surface124move backward to the space formed by the smooth internal ring surface134of the housing130, and also makes the smooth external ring surface122move backward to the space formed by the female gear structure ring surface132of the housing130. In the meanwhile, the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110can turn around in two ways to pull and drag the orthodontic arch wire30to adjust the orthodontic force and direction to achieve an optimal force and direction for individual. As for the tooth surface fixing plank20and base plate20, it not only provides the function for fixing the housing130on tooth surface but also offers the function for supporting the elastomer140, thereby the elastomer140is able to push the male gear ring and the orthodontic arch wire slot(s) and fixing talon110up by the support of the tooth surface fixing plank20and base plate22. As to the size relations among the diameters of the smooth external ring surface122, of the male gear structure ring surface124, of female gear structure ring surface132, of the smooth internal ring surface134, and of the upper open136of the housing130are similar to those described inFIG. 2, it is unnecessary to be repeated herein.