JP4530636B2 - Computer program system for correcting malocclusions using snap style - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to orthodontic technology.

Wire bending (wire binding) in traditional orthodontics is a time consuming work, but is an essential work in conventional orthodontics. Irregular arrangement of teeth, the archwire in which the normal U-shaped if necessary, be corrected by attaching an appropriate bending tool. When orthodontic brackets (arms) are attached to irregularly arranged teeth, and the archwire is attached to the slot, the force to correct the irregular teeth is applied for a certain period of time. Since a plurality of teeth to be corrected are fastened to the archwire, the archwire affects the correction of the dentition.

  The types of movement required for teeth to correct misalignment of teeth are vertical movement (extrusion or intrusion), forward / backward movement (movement toward the tongue and movement toward the cheek), rotation (movement in the socket) (Clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of teeth), tilting (movement of teeth tilting mesial or distal), twisting (movement of teeth turning to the lingual or buccal side) and lateral (lateral) It is movement.

Today, orthodontic brackets are attached to teeth with cement. Each bracket is provided with a slot to hold the archwire, two upper and lower grooves, and a fastening wing to hold the fastening wire, which is used to tie the bracket to the archwire The In older technology, the bracket was first welded to a metal band, which then slid over the individual teeth and secured in place.

One-piece orthodontic brackets were cast so that a certain amount (average amount) of vertical movement, forward / backward movement, tilting, rotation and twisting could be realized. This alleviated the dexterity of the hand required to handle the archwire. Of course, the bracket is precisely placed and joined in place.

  In the above scheme, where the amount of movement is average, only the force is supplied to the average dentition, so differences that normally occur in dental anatomy and bracket misplacement are not allowed. Then, wire bending is necessary to correct subtle irregularities of the dentition. Therefore, it has been time-consuming and expensive.

  New methods have also been proposed that do not require wire bending in orthodontics. Continuous miniature positioners manufactured with the help of computers are actually used. This must move multiple teeth with a slight increase and must be worn for 22 hours per day with optional use. The theory of continuous positioners is based on the natural tooth anatomical model, ie, the undercut of the dentition. This method is laborious, not very effective, the results of treatment are not sustainable, and its use is markedly limited.

The present invention provides a new orthodontic procedure that allows for unintentional controlled movement of teeth for 24 hours a day. In the orthodontic appliance according to the present invention, each attachment attached to the lingual side or lip side of each tooth, that is, a prong unit described later, greatly amplifies the mechanical force acting on the tooth. Each attachment is composed of a joined base, a short neck, and a square, triangular or polygonal prong head. This attachment was prepared by a computer for each tooth based on a pre-made tooth negative and model. The second part of the corrector according to the present invention comprises a semi-flexible U-shaped arch, also prepared using a computer, which has a hollow compartment that is spaced along the arch. Provided. Then, Ru aforementioned prong heads are attached to the individual compartments. Depending on the position and posture of the compartment in the semi-flexible U-shaped arch, each compartment exerts forces such as vertical movement, back-and-forth movement, tilting, rotation, twisting and lateral movement on the prong head connected to each tooth. .

When the patient wears the first orthodontic appliance of the present invention for a period of time, the initial stage of orthodontic correction ends. Thereafter, the initial corrector is replaced with the next programmed corrector, which can be done relatively easily. By repeating this, the uneven tooth arrangement is gradually corrected. Orthodontic correction can be completed by using a series of orthodontic appliances prepared in advance . Since the prong head of the orthodontic appliance of the present invention has a stronger force acting on individual teeth than the positioner described above, the orthodontic technique of the present invention is not only more effective, but also in complicated cases. It is possible to cope with precise and special dentition movement. This technology is economically inexpensive and improves patient satisfaction.

  The present invention uses a series of repetitive prong units (attachments) to convey orthodontic forces to dentitions that are not neatly arranged. As shown in FIG. 1, the prong unit generally includes a pedestal 1 having a curved contact surface, and the entire prong unit is firmly attached to the lingual side of the dentition. In addition to the base, the prong unit includes a short neck 2 and a prong head 3. Prong heads (sometimes referred to simply as heads) are generally polyhedral in shape, and the corrective force that corrects irregular teeth to a normal posture is, for example, twisting, tilting, up / down, left / right or The corrective force to move back and forth is transmitted to the prong head.

The base 1 of the prong unit is first attached to a positioning template 7 as shown in FIGS. Positioning template 7 functions as a guide for joining the base of the unit to the specified tooth contact surface of the pedestal to the template is first joined. A bonding agent is used for bonding, but after the bonding agent is cured, the positioning template is broken and discarded except for the attached portion of the base. The positioning template used in the present invention is designed and prepared by a computer processed manufacturing process. When the template is removed, the joined prong head (see FIG. 4) is ready for use.

  Next, a semi-flexible U-shaped arch 12 as shown in FIG. 5 is prepared. The arch is provided with a compartment 5 at a position corresponding to the selected tooth, which is also performed using a computer. Each compartment 5 has a rectangular insertion hole 10 having a flexible entrance, and the prong head 3 is inserted and held in the insertion hole. The entrance of the insertion hole may be circular. Regardless of the inlet shape, the attachment / detachment of the prong head to the insertion hole is a snap style.

  When prong heads are inserted into all compartments, each prong head is given one or more of the corrective forces described above, and irregular teeth are reliably corrected slightly in the desired posture. Is done. And after wearing the said arch for a suitable period, each compartment is extracted from a prong head, an arch is removed, and it replaces with the next arch. This next arch incorporates computer-installed changes to correct the teeth to the next stage.

  By repeating such a series of operations until the teeth are satisfactorily aligned, the orthodontics is completed, the last arch is discarded and the prong head is removed. Finally, a safe plastic positioning tool can be installed for a short period of time so that the correction is stable and the teeth do not move again.

The spacer 6 (see FIG. 5) of the U-shaped arch 12 can be made of a semi-flexible material , and the size , shape, and type of material of the spacer can be changed so that a desired correction force is exerted. The spacer 6, as shown in FIG. 7, can be formed by compressing material such as crush compartment 5 with a cavity, in this case, the spacer extension force of the spacer to the adjacent compartment acts. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the spacer 6 can also be formed of an elastic material that pulls the compartments 5 together. In this case, the contraction force of the spacer reaches the compartment .

Operation principles of the present invention may be described using FIGS. 9 to 15, in these figures, the compartment is a square, a square insertion hole is small, each interproximal material by horizontal line shows Has been. The holding force can be increased by using an annular opening.

FIG. 9 shows that an upward force and a downward force are exerted on the teeth.
FIG. 10 shows that a lateral force is exerted on the teeth.
FIG. 11 is a top view when a forward force and a backward force are exerted.
FIG. 12 shows a case where a tilting force is exerted.
FIG. 13 shows a case where the rotational force is exerted.
FIG. 14 shows a case where twisting occurs downward.
FIG. 15 shows a case where the twist is generated upward.

  One advantage of the present invention is that it eliminates orthodontic wires, ligatures and other time-consuming appliances that are currently required to accurately complete complex orthodontics. Another feature of the present invention is the ability to move teeth without patient assistance. Being able to attach the orthodontic appliance of the present invention to the lingual side of the dentition does not impair the appearance of the patient, and does not cause the patient to feel squinting. When it is not necessary to care about the appearance, the correction tool of the present invention can be used on the lip side of the tooth.

It is a side view of the basic prong unit used for an upper tooth and a lower tooth. It is a top view of the prong positioning template used in order to position an orthodontic prong unit in the optimal part of the lingual side of the tooth | gear (s) which needs correction. FIG. 2 is a partial isometric view of a positioning template showing a pedestal of a unit joined to the lingual surface of a tooth, where a perforation between the prong head and the template is also shown. It is a top view of the prong unit joined to the dentition after removing the positioning template. FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a semi-flexible U-shaped arch with hollow compartments connected to each other by thin flexible spacers. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a semi-flexible U-shaped arch that is properly positioned in the initial stage. FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a U-shaped arch similar to FIG. 5 illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a U-shaped arch similar to FIG. 5 showing another embodiment with semi-rigid block spacers disposed between the compartments. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force has reached in the up-down direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force has spread to the horizontal direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force has reached in the front-back direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force to incline is exerted. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force which rotates rotates. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force which twists outward is exerted. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the correction force which twists inward is exerted.

Explanation of symbols

1: Unit base 2: Unit short neck 3: Unit prong head 5: Compartment 6: Spacer 7: Positioning template 10: Prong head insertion hole 12: U-shaped arch

Claims (10)

In the system to correct dentition,
(A) a plurality of prong units comprising a pedestal, a short neck extending from the pedestal, and a head located at an end of the short neck;
(B) The pedestal of each prong unit is joined at a position and posture conforming to a computer-created pattern, and each pedestal is a tooth specified by at least one of the upper and lower dental arches. A positioning template that can be separated from the pedestal, destroyed and discarded after the pedestal is joined to the teeth
(C) a semi-flexible U-shaped arch with a plurality of stretchable compartments lined up via semi-flexible spacers, wherein the position and orientation of each compartment corresponds to the selected tooth In accordance with the created pattern, each compartment is closed at one end, the head of each prong unit can be inserted at the other end, the size of each spacer is variable, and the contraction force or extension force of each spacer A semi-flexible U-shaped arch on the teeth to be corrected via a compartment adjacent to the spacer and a prong unit engaged therewith ,
1 or 2 selected by inserting each compartment of the U-shaped arch into the head of the prong unit and moving it up and down, back and forth, tilting, rotation, twisting and lateral movement. The orthodontic correction that is performed by applying the correction force resulting from the movement of more than the seeds to all the inconsistent teeth is repeated by sequentially exchanging a plurality of the U-shaped arches, and the desired dentition at the end of treatment An orthodontic system consisting of completing the correction.   The orthodontic system according to claim 1, wherein the compartment and the head of the prong unit can be attached and detached in a snap manner.   The orthodontic system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the spacer interposed between the compartments is manufactured from a semi-flexible thin material or a semi-rigid thick material.   The orthodontic system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spacer interposed between the compartments is a contraction spacer or an expansion spacer capable of providing various correction forces to the compartment and the prong head. The orthodontic system according to any of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the U-shaped arch is assembled from various flexible materials that can provide the teeth with various movements necessary for orthodontics. The orthodontic system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the head of the prong unit is in a polyhedral structure that is firmly held by being inserted into the insertion holes of the individual compartments. The orthodontic system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein an entrance of the head insertion hole of the compartment is a square or a donut ring. The orthodontic system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the short neck of the prong unit affects tooth movement, and the length of the short neck is changed to change the correction force. The orthodontic system according to claim 1 , wherein the prong unit is attached to the lip side of the tooth. a set of prong units (1, 2, 3);
b. A positioning template for aligning each prong unit with a specified tooth position and joining it to the tooth, and after the prong unit is joined to the tooth, the positioning template (7) can be broken and removed from the unit;
c. one or more semi-flexible arches (12) with a plurality of stretchable compartments arranged in a U-shape via semi-flexible spacers, each compartment engaging a corresponding prong unit
The three elements of
The individual positions and postures of the compartments are adjusted so that a predetermined orthodontic force is applied to a specified tooth according to a computer generated pattern, and the size of each spacer in the arch is variable, An orthodontic system in which the contraction force or extension force of the spacer extends to the tooth to be corrected via a compartment adjacent to the spacer and a prong unit engaged therewith .

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