CPC A61C 7/002 (2013.01) [A61C 7/08 (2013.01); B33Y 50/02 (2014.12); G06F 30/20 (2020.01); A61C 9/0046 (2013.01)] | 29 Claims |
1. A system for providing a plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances, the system comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive a digital representation of a patient's teeth in an initial arrangement;
determine a plurality of orthodontic positioning stages including a series of successive tooth arrangements for repositioning the patient's teeth from the initial arrangement to a target arrangement;
determine shapes of a plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances, wherein each of the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances corresponds with one of the plurality of orthodontic positioning stages;
determine, for each successive tooth arrangement, an orientation of an elastic member between an upper jaw appliance of the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances and a lower jaw appliance of the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances;
determine, for each successive tooth arrangement, an orientation of a hook relative to each of the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances, based on the orientation of the elastic member in the plurality of orthodontic positioning stages; and
generate instructions for fabrication of the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances; and
a fabrication machine, wherein the fabrication machine is in communication with the processor and configured to receive the instructions therefrom; and
wherein the fabrication machine is configured to fabricate the plurality of orthodontic positioning appliances.
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