US 12,433,730 B2
Dental appliance etch template
Michael Lawrence Fernie, Richmond (CA)
Assigned to Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 22, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/614,584.
Application 18/614,584 is a continuation of application No. 17/862,275, filed on Jul. 11, 2022, granted, now 11,950,976.
Application 17/862,275 is a continuation of application No. 16/729,113, filed on Dec. 27, 2019, granted, now 11,382,730, issued on Jul. 12, 2022.
Application 16/729,113 is a continuation of application No. 15/382,235, filed on Dec. 16, 2016, granted, now 10,548,700, issued on Feb. 4, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0307163 A1, Sep. 19, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61C 7/08 (2006.01); A61C 7/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/14 (2006.01); A61C 19/06 (2006.01); A61C 7/16 (2006.01); A61C 13/15 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 19/063 (2013.01) [A61C 7/002 (2013.01); A61C 7/146 (2013.01); A61C 7/08 (2013.01); A61C 7/16 (2013.01); A61C 19/003 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of manufacturing an etching template, the method comprising:
forming a virtual etching template by:
forming a virtual shell having one or more cavities, wherein the one or more cavities are shaped to receive one or more teeth of a virtual dental model of a patient's dentition;
identifying a position of the virtual shell at which a virtual well is to be placed based on an area on a tooth of the patient's dentition to be etched, wherein the position is in a cavity of the one or more cavities; and
forming the virtual well at the position of the virtual shell, wherein walls that define the virtual well are shaped to accommodate a volume of a wafer that is configured to absorb a liquid etching material, wherein the walls of the virtual well further define a reservoir that extends beyond the volume of the wafer, the reservoir being shaped to contain excess liquid etching material from the wafer; and
forming a physical etching template for etching the area on the tooth of the patient's dentition, wherein the physical etching template is formed based on the virtual etching template.