Patent ID: 8920163

Claim:
An orthodontic appliance for developing a dental arch form and alignment of the teeth of a patient, the orthodontic appliance comprising: a resiliently deformable teeth engaging member that includes an arch-shaped web that defines upper and lower occlusal bite surfaces, the teeth engaging member has inner and outer walls that project transversely away from the upper surface of the web, and the web and the inner and outer walls define an upper arch receiving channel within which an upper dental arch and associated dentition of the patient can be received; at least one complementary pair of upper arch teeth positioning formations on the teeth engaging member for expanding the arch and positioning individual teeth along the upper arch, each said complementary pair comprising an outer teeth positioning formation projecting into the upper arch receiving channel from the outer wall and an inner teeth positioning formation projecting into the upper arch receiving channel from the inner wall, the upper arch teeth positioning formations each being resiliently deformable and comprising a wedge formation including a wedge base on the inner or outer wall and substantially planar wedge faces projecting away from the wedge base to a wedge apex adapted to project into an interproximal space between two adjacent teeth of the patient when the orthodontic appliance is fitted to the patient; and an arch-shaped base member including a frame extending in a plane parallel to the web that is received within and is substantially enclosed by the teeth engaging member, the base member being formed of a resiliently deformable material having a greater rigidity than the teeth engaging member, wherein the orthodontic appliance has a resting form and can be deformed out of the resting form when fitted to the patient to receive an upper arch of the patient in the upper arch receiving channel, and exerts a return force against the received arch to develop the arch form and the base member contributes to generating the resting form return force.