Patent ID: 8133054

Claim:
A method for producing an orthodontic appliance comprising a vibrating element for generating mechanical vibration and applying the mechanical vibration to a surface of a tooth of a user to be aligned, and a dental mouthpiece having an inner layer mounted on teeth of the user including the tooth to be aligned and an outer layer which is superimposed on the outer side of the inner layer with the vibrating element encapsulated between the inner side of the outer layer and the outer side of the inner layer in an watertight manner the orthodontic appliance promoting dental alignment by transmitting the mechanical vibration of the vibrating element to the surface of the tooth to be aligned, the method comprising: forming the inner layer by heating a first sheet member having a heat softening property so as to soften the first sheet member and placing the heated and softened first sheet member on a dental cast to the teeth of the user and closely conforming a shape of the first sheet member to the shape of the dental cast; mounting the vibrating element on the inner layer, the vibrating element being positioned so as to apply a vibrating force to the surface of the tooth; and heating a second sheet member having a heat softening property so as to soften the second sheet member and placing the heated and softened second sheet member on the inner layer on which the vibrating element has been mounted, conforming and closely attaching the second softened sheet member to the inner layer and to the vibrating element, thereby forming the outer layer constituting an outer part of the dental mouthpiece and sealing the vibrating element between the outer layer and the inner layer in an watertight manner and such that contacting surfaces of the inner and outer layers are fused together.