Patent ID: 8152521

Claim:
An orthodontic appliance for aligning teeth including a tooth to be aligned, the appliance comprising: a vibrating element that generates mechanical vibration and applies the vibration to the tooth to be aligned, the vibrating element including a driven element and a driver that drives the driven element to generate the mechanical vibration; and a dental mouthpiece including an inner layer and an outer layer superimposed on an outer side of the inner layer, the dental mouthpiece having the vibrating element, including both of the driven element and the driver encapsulated within the dental mouthpiece and mountable on the teeth with the vibrating element encapsulated therein, wherein: the inner layer has a shape conforming to the teeth to which the mouthpiece is attached, the vibrating element is provided on an outer surface of the inner layer, and the outer layer has a shape conforming to the shape of the inner layer and an inner surface joined, in an airtight manner, to the outer surface of the inner layer, a portion of the outer layer including a bulge portion that projects outward so as to have a shape conforming to a shape of the vibrating element, and the vibrating element is received between an inner surface of the bulge portion and the outer surface of the inner layer.