Patent ID: 7234936

Claim:
A system for moving teeth of a patient's dental arch from an initial tooth arrangement at the beginning of treatment to a final tooth arrangement at the conclusion of treatment comprising a plurality of resilient appliances including an initial appliance for receiving the initial tooth arrangement and a final appliance for receiving the final tooth arrangement, wherein each appliance has a row of spaced apart couplings for connection to respective teeth of the dental arch, wherein each of the couplings of each appliance is arranged in a certain relative orientation with respect to the remaining couplings of the same appliance when the appliance is relaxed, wherein the relative orientation of the couplings is substantially the same for each of the appliances, wherein at least one of the appliances has a stiffness that is greater than the stiffness of at least one other appliance, wherein each appliance comprises an elongated body, wherein the couplings comprise notches, and wherein the body includes a series of narrowed sections adjacent to the notches for reception in respective orthodontic brackets fixed to the patient's teeth.