Patent ID: 7473096

Claim:
A method of bonding orthodontic appliances to a patient's teeth comprising: providing an orthodontic appliance placement device having wall sections that match the configuration of at least a portion of the patient's dental arch; releasably connecting a number of orthodontic appliances to the placement device, wherein each of the appliances includes a base for bonding the appliance to a tooth; providing an adhesive dispensing unit having wall sections matching portions of the patient's dental arch, wherein the adhesive dispensing unit includes a plurality of adhesive applicators each including a quantity of unhardened orthodontic adhesive; placing the placement device with the appliances on the adhesive dispensing unit in order to transfer unhardened orthodontic adhesive from the adhesive applicators to the base of at least some of the appliances; detaching the placement device with the appliances from the adhesive dispensing unit while the adhesive remains unhardened; placing the placement device on the patient's dental arch in order to move the appliances with the respective quantities of unhardened orthodontic adhesive into corresponding positions on the patient's teeth; and hardening the adhesive in order to bond the appliances to the patient's teeth.