Patent ID: 7771640

Claim:
A method of creating a mold of a patient's teeth to which are installed one or more orthodontic appliances that each include a support assembly bonded to a tooth and a corresponding corrective assembly with a wire engaging portion removably coupled to the support assembly, the method comprising: removing a corresponding corrective assembly from a support assembly that is operatively coupled to a tooth of the patient while leaving the support assembly operatively coupled to the tooth of the patient; coupling a marker assembly to the support assembly, wherein the marker assembly includes a marker portion configured to represent the wire engaging portion of the corresponding corrective assembly; applying unset molding compound to the patient's teeth and the one or more support assemblies bonded thereto, wherein the one or more support assemblies includes the support assembly from which the corresponding corrective assembly was removed and the coupled marker assembly with the marker portion configured to represent the wire engaging portion of the corresponding corrective assembly; setting the molding compound to form a mold that includes a representation of the location of the wire engaging portion of the corresponding corrective assembly; removing the mold from the patient's teeth and the one or more support assemblies bonded thereto without damaging or debonding the one or more support assemblies or damaging, permanently deforming, or structurally altering the mold; and determining, from the mold, the position of the wire engaging portion of the removed corrective assembly.