Patent ID: 8777611

Claim:
A system for repositioning the teeth of a user from an initial tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement, and said system comprising: a first polymeric shell having a plurality of teeth-receiving cavities sized and configured to reposition the teeth from the initial tooth arrangement to a first intermediate tooth arrangement; at least one intermediate polymeric shell having a plurality of teeth-receiving cavities sized and configured to progressively reposition the teeth from the first intermediate tooth arrangement to at least one successive intermediate tooth arrangement; a final polymeric shell having a plurality of teeth-receiving cavities sized and configured to reposition the teeth from the at least one successive intermediate tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement; a pontic-housing pocket on at least one of said plurality of teeth-receiving cavities, and said pontic-housing pocket being formed between a frontal outer wall of the cavity and a pocket-forming wall located adjacent to the frontal outer wall and in the interior of the cavity, and whereby an opening between the frontal outer wall and the pocket-forming wall provides access into said pontic-housing pocket; a pontic-forming material; wherein said pontic-housing pocket is structured and disposed for receiving the pontic-forming material through the opening on said pontic-housing pocket, and said frontal outer wall and said pocket-forming wall being structured to contain and captivate the pocket-forming material within said pocket-housing, and whereby the pontic-forming material hardens into a pontic after being received in said pontic-housing pocket; and wherein the opening between the frontal outer wall and the pocket-forming wall is smaller than the hardened pontic in said pontic-housing pocket, thereby preventing removal of said pontic through the opening.