Patent ID: 7653455

Claim:
A system for fabricating an orthodontic surgical guide for positioning and aligning a temporary anchorage device relative to a dental arch and a temporary anchorage implant site, wherein the temporary anchorage device facilitates orthodontic tooth movement, the system comprising: a computing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory and a display, the memory storing computer-readable instructions for execution by the processor, the instructions comprising a rendering engine for rendering a three-dimensional digital representation of at least a portion of a dental arch within a user-interactive computer environment; and a user interface module for manipulating a digital representation of a temporary anchorage device relative to the three-dimensional digital representation of the dental arch and specifying a virtual implant site for the temporary anchorage device; and a prototyping instrument in communication with the computing device and configured to fabricate an orthodontic surgical guide based on the three-dimensional representation of the dental arch, the digital representation of the temporary anchorage device, and the manipulation, in the user interactive computer environment, of the digital representation of the temporary anchorage device relative to the three-dimensional digital representation of the dental arch and the specified virtual implant site for the temporary anchorage device.