Patent ID: 7661281

Claim:
A method of bending an orthodontic archwire, comprising the steps of: determining an optimal shape of a portion of an archwire positioned between a pair of orthodontic bracket receiving segments, the optimal shape including at least one pair of nominal bends, a location of a first nominal bend of the at least one pair of nominal bends substantially spaced apart from a location of a second nominal bend of the at least one pair of nominal bends; applying an actual bend to the archwire at a location coinciding with the location of the first nominal bend; measuring the actual bend to the archwire responsive to the actual bend being applied; comparing the actual bend to the first nominal bend to determine an amount of deviation of the actual bend from the first nominal bend; determining corrective movements to substantially eliminate the deviation between the actual bend and the nominal bend; iteratively reexecuting the applying, measuring, comparing, and determining steps until the deviation is within a predefined tolerance, the deviation then defining a remaining deviation; and recalculating a value of the subsequent second nominal bend of the pair of nominal bends responsive to the remaining deviation of the actual bend to the archwire from the first nominal bend to thereby compensate for the remaining deviation therebetween.