CN116441864A - Method and system for machining orthodontic retainers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for machining an orthodontic retainer, the method comprising: acquiring an oral cavity digital model; determining, by the computing device, an orthodontic wire model from the oral digital model, and determining a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model; processing the wire to be bent by a bending machine according to the orthodontic wire model to obtain an orthodontic wire; and clamping the blank to be processed on the numerical control machine tool through a clamp, and milling the blank to be processed according to the base model by the numerical control machine tool to obtain the base. The method and the system can automatically finish the processing of the retainer, and simultaneously, the processing process can be better adapted to the shape and the material of the retainer, thereby improving the accuracy and the automation degree of the processing.

Description

Method and system for machining orthodontic retainers

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and system for machining orthodontic holders, particularly Harley holders.

Background

After wearing the fixed appliance, the patient needs to wear the retainer to maintain the position of the teeth, waiting for reconstruction of the alveolar bone, and most doctors currently choose to wear the harley retainer to the patient to maintain the position of the teeth.

The Harry's retainer comprises a base and an orthodontic wire. At present, most of Harley retainer products adopt a traditional manual manufacturing method, the traditional manual manufacturing process is quite complex, the manufacturing period is longer, the processing precision is more dependent on the experience of workers, the technical requirements and the labor cost are high, and the price of the products is always kept at a higher level. When the base of the Halley holder is processed by the processing method of 3D printing, materials applicable to 3D printing are limited, and the 3D printing has disadvantages in terms of cost and processing efficiency. There are also ways of machining the base by material removal, such as milling, but due to the relatively complex shape of the base, existing machining methods often fail to maintain efficient precision machining at various locations of the base and thus result in high costs of machining, and existing machining methods often employ manual ways in procedures such as installing orthodontic wires, which rely on the experience of the operator and are less accurate.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to at least partially solve or improve the problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a method and system for machining an orthodontic retainer.

A first aspect of the invention relates to a method for machining an orthodontic retainer, comprising:

acquiring an oral cavity digital model;

determining, by a computing device, an orthodontic wire model from the oral digital model, and determining a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model;

processing a wire to be bent by a bending machine according to the orthodontic wire model so as to obtain an orthodontic wire;

clamping a blank to be processed on a numerical control machine tool through a clamp, and milling the blank to be processed according to the base model by the numerical control machine tool to obtain a base, wherein the base comprises: a first outer contour, a second outer contour, and a groove; and

assembling the orthodontic wire and the base together to form an orthodontic retainer,

wherein milling the blank to be processed according to the base model comprises: milling the first outer contour at an initial position by the numerical control machine tool; and

and driving the clamp to rotate around a rotation axis parallel to the horizontal direction by a first angle relative to the initial position to a first position by the numerical control machine tool, and milling a second outline and a groove of the base at the first position. In some embodiments, the first angle is between 170 ° and 190 °.

In some embodiments, milling the blank to be machined according to the base pattern further comprises: and driving the clamp to rotate around the rotation axis by a second angle relative to the initial position to a second position by the numerical control machine tool, and milling the side part of the first outer contour of the base at the second position. In some embodiments, the second angle is between 15 ° and 40 °.

Through making anchor clamps can rotate to different processing positions for initial position, can make to wait to process the blank and be in convenient processing gesture for the digit control machine tool all the time to can realize the processing in each position of base with high efficiency and accuracy, this speed and the accuracy that have not only improved the processing, can reduce the cost and the time of processing simultaneously.

In some embodiments, milling the blank to be machined according to the base pattern further comprises: when milling the first outer contour and the second outer contour, at least three connecting parts are reserved on the base, and the base is kept into a whole with a blank to be processed through the at least three connecting parts in the milling process; and separating the base from the at least three connection portions after finishing the milling of the first and second outer profiles. By reserving at least three connecting parts between the base and the blank of the blank to be processed in the processing process, the base and the blank can be always and stably clamped on the clamp before the processing is completed, and therefore the processing precision is improved.

In some embodiments, the computing device includes an input device, and determining an orthodontic wire model from the oral cavity digital model includes: inputting adjustment data by the input device; and determining the orthodontic wire model from the oral digital model and the adjustment data. Preferably, the adjustment data includes: at least one of the main body height adjustment data and the U-shaped curve width adjustment data.

In some embodiments, determining a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model comprises: determining shape parameters of a base model corresponding to the first outer contour and the second outer contour according to the oral cavity digital model; and determining groove position parameters and groove shape parameters of the groove according to the orthodontic wire model.

In some embodiments, the bending machine includes a rotating mechanism and a bending mechanism, and processing the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model to obtain the orthodontic wire includes: the method comprises the steps of conveying a wire to be bent towards the bending mechanism along a first direction by the wire feeding mechanism, determining a plurality of positions to be bent on the wire to be bent according to an orthodontic wire model, rotating the wire to be bent to corresponding angle positions along the axial direction of the wire to be bent by the rotating mechanism for each position to be bent in the plurality of positions to be bent, adjusting the vertical position of the bending mechanism along the vertical direction by the vertical position adjusting mechanism, and bending the wire to be bent at each position to be bent in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction by the bending mechanism, so that a U-shaped bent part of the orthodontic wire is obtained.

In some embodiments, assembling the orthodontic wire and the base together comprises: the identification mechanism identifies the groove on the base to generate identification information; receiving identification information from the identification mechanism by a mechanical arm, carrying the orthodontic wire according to the identification information, and placing the orthodontic wire in a groove on the base; filling material is injected into the groove by a material injection mechanism; and polishing the substrate by a polishing device.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a system for machining an orthodontic retainer, comprising: scanning equipment, computing equipment, a bending machine, a numerical control machine tool and a fixture,

the scanning equipment is used for acquiring an oral cavity digital model;

the computing equipment is in communication connection with the scanning equipment, receives an oral cavity digital model from the scanning equipment, determines an orthodontic wire model according to the oral cavity digital model, and determines a base model according to the oral cavity digital model and the orthodontic wire model;

the bending machine is in communication connection with the computing equipment, and processes the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model so as to obtain an orthodontic wire; and

the numerical control machine tool is in communication connection with the computing equipment, clamps the blank to be processed through a clamp, mills the blank to be processed according to the base model to obtain a base,

wherein the clamp is rotatable about an axis of rotation parallel to the horizontal direction to a plurality of different positions relative to an initial position.

In some implementations, the computing device further includes an input device configured to input adjustment data.

In some embodiments, the clamp comprises: a bridge plate having a recess;

the inner periphery of the fixing ring and the inner periphery of the groove of the bridge plate are matched with the shape of the blank to be processed, and the blank to be processed can be fixed on the bridge plate through the fixing ring.

In some embodiments, the numerically controlled machine tool includes a first turntable and a second turntable, a clamp is secured between the first turntable and the second turntable, and the numerically controlled machine tool is rotatable about the axis of rotation to a plurality of different positions relative to an initial position by the first turntable driving the clamp.

In some embodiments, the bending machine includes a wire feed mechanism, a vertical position adjustment mechanism, a rotation mechanism, and a bending mechanism, the wire feed mechanism being capable of conveying wire to be bent in a first direction toward the bending mechanism; the rotating mechanism can rotate the wire to be bent to a corresponding angle position along the axial direction of the wire to be bent; the vertical position adjusting mechanism is connected with the bending mechanism and can adjust the vertical position of the bending mechanism along the vertical direction; the bending mechanism can bend the wire to be bent along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction at the position to be bent.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises: the device comprises an identification mechanism, a mechanical arm, a material injection mechanism and a polishing device, wherein the identification mechanism is used for: identifying a groove on the base to generate identification information; the mechanical arm is used for: receiving identification information from the identification mechanism, conveying the orthodontic wire according to the identification information, and placing the orthodontic wire in a groove on the base; the material injection mechanism is used for injecting filling materials into the grooves; and the polishing device is used for polishing the base.

Compared with the traditional manufacturing technology, the method is more efficient and convenient, has lower manufacturing difficulty, reduces the processing period, reduces the consumable cost and improves the economic benefit; in addition, for patients, the base thickness of the numerical control processing retainer can directly digitally adjust parameters, so that the comfort level of the patients is greatly improved. Meanwhile, the bending machine is used for automatically bending orthodontic wires and automatically completing procedures such as assembly and polishing, so that labor cost can be saved, material consumption can be reduced, operation difficulty can be reduced, and the influence of experience of operators is small.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an orthodontic retainer worn on a patient's upper row of teeth.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of an orthodontic retainer worn on a patient's lower row of teeth.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic view of a machining system for machining an orthodontic retainer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for machining an orthodontic retainer, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a numerical control machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of a clamp according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic representation of an intermediate form of a blank to be processed when processing a base according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a bending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

100. 200 retainer

101. 201 base support

102. 202 orthodontic wire

1011. 2011 first outer contour

1012. 2012 second outer contour

1013. 2013 groove

1021. 2021 backbone

1022. 2022U-shaped curved portion

2011a side of the first outer profile

300. Processing system

301. Scanning device

302. Computing device

3021. Input device

303. Numerical control machine tool

3031. First rotating disc

3032. Second rotary table

304. Bending machine

3041. Wire feeding mechanism

3042. Vertical position adjusting mechanism

3043. Rotary mechanism

3044. Bending mechanism

305. Clamp

3051. Bridge plate

3051a first surface

3052. Fixing ring

3053. Screw bolt

306. Identification mechanism

307. Mechanical arm

308. Material injection mechanism

309. Polishing device

701a, 701b, 701c connection part

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, the same or corresponding reference numerals are given to the components having the same functions, and the repeated explanation thereof is omitted. In the following embodiments, the same or equivalent parts will not be described repeatedly in principle, except where necessary.

First, a system for manufacturing an orthodontic retainer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 1, a holder 100 to be worn on the upper row of teeth of a patient is composed of a base 101 and an orthodontic wire 102, and the orthodontic wire 102 is fixed to the base 101. The base 101 comprises a first outer contour 1011, a second outer contour 1012 and a recess 1013. When worn, the first outer contour 1011 is in contact with the patient's oral palate, the shape of the first outer contour 1011 fitting the patient's oral palate. The second outer contour 1012 is located on the opposite side of the first outer contour 1011, the second outer contour 1012 being in contact with the tongue of the patient's mouth when worn. The grooves 1013 are used to mount the orthodontic wire 102, and the position and shape of the grooves 1013 on the base 101 are designed to fit the orthodontic wire 102.

As can also be seen in fig. 1, the orthodontic wire 102 includes a stem 1021, which is the portion of the orthodontic wire that contacts the anterior teeth to maintain the post-orthodontic pose. The orthodontic wire 102 further includes a plurality of U-shaped curves 1022, which are portions of the orthodontic wire 102 proximate the base 101, the retaining effect being adjustable by adjusting the U-shaped curves 1022.

As shown in fig. 2, a holder 200 to be worn on the lower teeth of a patient is composed of a base 201 and an orthodontic wire 202, and the orthodontic wire 202 is fixed to the base 201. The base 201 includes a first outer profile 2011, a second outer profile 2012, and a recess 2013. When worn, the first outer profile 2011 is in contact with the patient's oral mandible, the shape of the first outer profile 2011 fitting the patient's oral mandible. The second outer profile 2012 is located on the opposite side of the first outer profile 2011, the second outer profile 2012 being in contact with the tongue of the patient's mouth when worn. The groove 2013 is used to mount the orthodontic wire 202, and the position and shape of the groove 2013 on the base 201 is designed to fit the orthodontic wire 202. As shown by the dashed line in fig. 2, the first outer contour 2011 further comprises a side 2011a, which side 2011a abuts against a portion of the patient's oral mandible near the rear teeth.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the orthodontic wire 102, 202 may be a stainless steel wire or a nickel titanium wire, which may be 0.5-2 mm in diameter.

The choice of materials used in the prior art for manufacturing the base by 3D printing is small, typically a photosensitive resin, whereas according to some embodiments of the invention the base 101, 201 may be made of various materials, such as metals, metal alloys like Ti-Mo, ceramic materials (e.g. zirconium), plastics, resins (e.g. temporary crown bridge resins or self-setting resins, e.g. consisting of methyl methacrylate and polymers thereof, etc.), or any combination of these materials may be suitable. Therefore, the technical scheme of the invention greatly expands the range of applicable materials.

As shown in fig. 3, in a preferred embodiment, the processing system 300 includes a scanning device 301, a computing device 302, a numerically controlled machine tool 303, a bender 304, and a fixture 305.

According to some embodiments of the invention, computing device 302 may also include an input device 3021.

As shown in fig. 3 and 8, the bending machine 304 includes a wire feed mechanism 3041, a vertical position adjustment mechanism 3042, a rotation mechanism 3043, and a bending mechanism 3044, according to some embodiments of the invention.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the processing system 300 further comprises: an identification mechanism 306, a robot arm 307, a material injection mechanism 308, and a polishing device 309.

As shown in fig. 6, according to some embodiments of the invention, clip 305 includes: a bridge 3051 having a recess with a through opening 3055 in the middle and with a groove bottom 3054 adapted to the shape of the securing ring and a securing ring 3052 secured to the groove bottom by means of screws 3053. The inner circumference of the securing ring 3052 and the opening 3055 are adapted to the shape of the blank 10 to be machined, so that the blank to be machined can be secured in the recess of the bridge plate 3051 by the securing ring 3052. The bridge plate 3051 has a first surface 3051a and a second surface (not shown) on the opposite side of the first surface. Fig. 6 also shows an exploded view of the milled base 101 and the blank to be machined.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a numerical control machine tool 303 according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the nc machine 303 includes a first turntable 3031 and a second turntable 3032, and the jig 305 is fixed between the first turntable 3031 and the second turntable 3032, and the nc machine is capable of driving the jig 305 to rotate about the rotation axis L parallel to the horizontal direction by the first turntable 3031.

The blank to be machined can be fixed on the numerical control machine 303 through the fixture 305, and can be driven to rotate around the rotation axis L to a plurality of different machining positions. Since the jig 305 has the through opening 3055, the milling cutter can process the blank to be processed not only from the side of the first surface 3051a, but also from the side of the second surface opposite to the first surface after the jig is rotated, and thus milling of the blank to be processed from a plurality of angles can be achieved, whereby various positions of the base can be processed more conveniently and thus the processing efficiency can be improved.

Next, a method of processing an orthodontic retainer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of manufacturing an orthodontic retainer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in processing a holder 100 for an upper row of teeth to be worn on a patient, the steps of:

< obtaining oral digital model >

Step S401 is performed, and the oral cavity digital model is acquired by the scanning device 301. According to some embodiments of the invention, the scanning device 301 may acquire a digital model of the oral cavity, for example, by scanning the patient's oral cavity; the scanning device 301 may also obtain a digital model of the oral cavity, for example by scanning a plaster model of the patient's dentition. The oral cavity digital model may be stored as a file conforming to a CAD standard format, such as STL.

The scanning device 301 sends the acquired oral cavity digital model to the computing device 302, and the computing device 302 may be, for example, any suitable type of computing device or machine having a programmable processor, such as a server computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, or the like.

< bending orthodontic wire >

The computing device 302 receives the oral cavity digital model, and in the computing device 302, step S402 is performed, and an orthodontic wire model is determined by the computing device 302 from the oral cavity digital model.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, in performing step S402, adjustment data may also be input by the input device 3021, the computing device 302 determining the orthodontic wire model from the oral cavity digital model and the adjustment data.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the adjustment data comprises: at least one of the main portion height adjustment data and the U-bend width adjustment data. The stem height adjustment data is used to adjust the height of the stem on the tooth. For example, in general, the default trunk 1021 is located at the middle 1/3 of the tooth, and the trunk 1021 may be set to be located in the section from the junction between the middle 1/3 and the cut 1/3 to the cut 1/3 of the tooth according to the doctor's requirement, so as to prevent the tooth from protruding outside. The U-shaped curve width adjustment data is used for adjusting the width of the U-shaped curve. For example, in general, the default U-shaped curved portion 1022 has a width of 1/2 of the cuspid, and the U-shaped curved portion 1022 may be provided to have a width of less than 1/2 of the cuspid and greater than 1/3 of the cuspid according to the requirements of the doctor, so as to gently maintain the shape of the teeth after orthodontic treatment; or the U-shaped curve 1022 may be provided with a width greater than 1/2 of the width of the cusp and less than the width of the cusp to more quickly close the anterior interdental space.

In the computing device 302, optionally, an orthodontic wire bending program is generated from an orthodontic wire model. For example, the computing device 302 may generate the orthodontic wire bending program directly from the oral digital model. The operator may also add adjustment data, and an orthodontic wire bending program may be generated by the computing device 302 from the oral cavity digital model and the adjustment data. The bending program may be, for example, a G code that is recognized and read by a numerical control machine.

Next, the computing device 302 sends the orthodontic wire model or the orthodontic wire bending program to the bending machine 304, and the bending machine 304 executes step S406 to bend the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model, so as to obtain the orthodontic wire 102. Alternatively, the wire to be bent can be bent and processed according to the orthodontic wire bending program.

A method of bending orthodontic wires in the bending machine 304 is described with reference to fig. 8. In fig. 8, a direction indicated by a straight line X is a first direction, a direction indicated by a straight line Y is a second direction, and the straight line X and the straight line Y constitute a first plane, and the direction of the first plane is parallel to the horizontal plane direction. In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, wire feeder 3041 conveys the wire to be bent in a first direction toward bending mechanism 3044 as bending machine 304 processes the wire to be bent according to an orthodontic wire pattern, and in some embodiments, the wire feeder includes a motor for driving the movement of the wire. The rotation mechanism 3043 is capable of rotating the wire to be bent to different angles about a first direction to enable the bending mechanism 3044 to perform bending at different relative angular positions with respect to the wire to be bent, and in some embodiments includes a motor for driving the wire to rotate. As shown, a vertical position adjustment mechanism 3042 is connected to the bending mechanism and is capable of adjusting the vertical position of the bending mechanism 3044 relative to the wire in a vertical direction perpendicular to the first plane to enable the bending mechanism 3044 to perform bending at different vertical positions relative to the wire to be bent, in some embodiments the vertical position adjustment mechanism 3042 includes a motor for driving the bending mechanism up and down. In some embodiments, a plurality of positions to be bent on a wire to be bent are first determined according to an orthodontic wire model, the wire to be bent is rotated in its axial direction to a respective angular position by the rotation mechanism for each of the plurality of positions to be bent, and a vertical position of the bending mechanism is adjusted in a vertical direction by the vertical position adjustment mechanism. In some embodiments, the bending machine 304 further comprises a tensioning mechanism, not shown in the figures, for tensioning and thereby securing the wire to be bent at a predetermined position to be bent, after which the bending mechanism can be moved in a second direction to deform the wire to be bent, thereby obtaining the U-bend 1022 of the orthodontic wire. The bending machine 304 may bend three-dimensional orthodontic wires in a three-dimensional manner according to the methods described above.

< milling base >

In the computing device 302, step S403 is performed to determine a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model.

According to some embodiments of the invention, determining a base model from an oral digital model and an orthodontic wire model includes: determining shape parameters of the base model corresponding to the first outer contour 1011 and the second outer contour 1012 in the base 101 from the oral digital model; and determining the groove position parameters and the groove shape parameters of the grooves 1013 in which the orthodontic wires 102 are mounted on the base 101 according to the orthodontic wire model.

The shape parameters of the base model corresponding to the first outer contour 1011 and the second outer contour 1012 may include a thickness of the base 101 and a surface contour adapted to an arrangement position of the teeth of the upper row of the patient and a shape of the palate of the patient, so that the base 101 fits the palate and the teeth of the upper row of the patient, taking the base 101 of the teeth of the upper row as an example. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shape parameters may also include other parameters required for processing the substrate and are not limited to thickness and surface profile.

In the computing device 302, a base milling program is optionally generated from the base model. According to some embodiments of the invention, the computing device 302 can generate the base milling program directly from the base model. For example, the 3D model of the base model may be imported into a computing device, which may automatically calculate an optimal machining tool path and generate a base milling program, which may be, for example, a G-code recognized and read by a numerically controlled machine tool, according to the shape of the blank to be machined and the relevant parameters of the base to be machined.

The computing device 302 transmits the base model or the base milling program to the numerical control machine 303, the numerical control machine 303 receives the base model or the base milling program, step S407 is executed, the blank to be processed is clamped on the numerical control machine 303 by the clamp 305, and the blank to be processed is milled by the numerical control machine according to the base model to obtain the base 101. Alternatively, the blank to be machined may also be milled according to a base milling procedure.

According to some embodiments of the invention, when the base 101 of the holder 100 worn on the patient's upper row of teeth as shown in fig. 1 is machined on the numerically controlled machine tool 303 by milling, the blank to be machined is clamped on the numerically controlled machine tool 303 by means of the clamp 305, and the first outer contour 1011 is milled by the numerically controlled machine tool in the initial position; the clamp 305 is then driven by the numerically controlled machine tool 303 to rotate about an axis of rotation parallel to the horizontal direction, relative to the initial position, through a first angle, which may be for example between 170 deg. and 190 deg., preferably 180 deg., to a first position in which the second outer contour 1012 of the base 101 and the recess 1013 are milled.

According to some embodiments of the invention, at least three connections remain on the base 101, by means of which the base 101 remains integral with the milled blank to be processed, when milling the first outer contour 1011 and the second outer contour 1012; after finishing the milling of the first outer contour 1011 and the second outer contour 1012, the base 101 is separated from the connection portion. Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing an intermediate form of a blank to be processed when processing the base 101, 201 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, three connection portions 701a, 701b, 701c connect the base 101 with the rest of the milled blank to be processed, so that the base 101 can be stably held integrally with the milled blank to be processed during the milling process, and thus can be stably held on the jig 305 to facilitate the processing of the base 101. After finishing the milling of the first outer contour 1011 and the second outer contour 1012, the base 101 can be detached from the milled blank to be processed by separating the connecting portions 701a, 701b, 701c from the base 101, thereby obtaining the base 101.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, three connection portions 701a, 701b, 701c are respectively located at two ends and a middle portion of the base 101, 201, to form a triangle structure, so as to stably connect the base 101, 201 and the milled blank to be processed, and simultaneously increase stability of the base 101, 201 and the blank to be processed in the cutting process, and improve processing precision.

The base 101 is obtained by machining the base on the numerical control machine 303 by the milling method, so that the thickness, the size and the like of the base are more controllable. Meanwhile, compared with a method for processing the base through 3D printing, the method is applicable to more processing materials in a milling method, has large selectable space and is convenient to reduce cost.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the base is a thermosetting material that is dense, strong, not prone to fracture, and extends the life of the retainer.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the shape parameters of the base model may indicate that the thickness of the base 101, 201 is 2-3 mm.

The groove position parameter may be a position where the groove 1013 is mounted on the base 101, and the groove shape parameter may be a length, a width, a depth, and the like of the groove 1013. Since in the subsequent process, it is necessary to put the orthodontic wire 102 into the groove 1013 of the base 101 and to inject the filling material into the groove 1013 to fix the orthodontic wire 102 to the base 101. Accordingly, the shape parameters such as the groove position parameter and the length of the groove should be adapted to the arrangement position of the teeth of the patient, etc., to the bending direction and length of the orthodontic wire 102, etc. Also, the width, depth, etc. of the groove 1013 should be adapted to the diameter of the orthodontic wire 102 and the nature of the filling material so that the orthodontic wire 102 can be placed in the groove 1013 and the filling material is not too small to drop the orthodontic wire 102 while the filling material is not too much to complicate the filling process when filling material in the groove 1013.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the parameters of the grooves 1013 are set according to the parameters of the orthodontic wire 102 and the tooth space, for example, when the diameter of the orthodontic wire 102 is 0.7mm, 0.8mm or 0.9mm, the depth of the grooves 1013 may be 1 to 2mm, the width may be 4mm, and the length may be 10mm.

< assembled retainer >

Finally, step S408 is performed to assemble the orthodontic wire 102 and the base 101 together to form the retainer 100 to be worn on the upper row of teeth of the patient.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, assembling the orthodontic wire 102 and the base 101 together includes, identifying, by the identifying mechanism 306, the groove 1013 on the base 101, generating identifying information and transmitting the identifying information to the robotic arm 307; receiving, by the robotic arm 307, the identification information from the identification mechanism 306, transporting the orthodontic wire 102 according to the identification information, and placing the orthodontic wire 102 in the groove 1013 on the base 101; filling material into recess 1013 by material injection mechanism 308; and polishing the substrate 101 by the polishing apparatus 309. Wherein the filler material may be a resin material.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the filling material is self-setting resin material, and the assembly operation is simple and convenient and is not easy to deform.

< base 201 of milling holder 200 >

The steps in processing the retainer 100 for wearing on the upper row of teeth of a patient according to an embodiment of the present invention are described in detail above. In processing a retainer 200 for a lower row of teeth to be worn on a patient, the specific steps of bending orthodontic wires and assembling the retainer are the same as in processing the retainer 100 for an upper row of teeth, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

The specific procedure in the case of milling the base 201 of the holder 200 for the lower row of teeth of the patient as shown in fig. 2 on the numerical control machine 303 is slightly different from that of the holder 100 for the upper row of teeth. Specifically, firstly, a blank to be machined is clamped on a numerical control machine tool 303 through a clamp 305, and a first outer contour 2011 is milled at an initial position through the numerical control machine tool; the numerically controlled machine 303 then drives the clamp 305 to rotate about the rotation axis L by a second angle, which may be for example between 20 ° and 40 °, preferably 25 °, to a second position to mill the side 2011a of the first outer profile 2011 of the base 201; finally, the clamp 305 is driven by the numerically controlled machine tool 303 to rotate about the axis of rotation L relative to the initial position by a first angle, which may be, for example, between 170 ° and 190 °, preferably 180 °, to a first position in which the second outer contour 2012 of the base 201 and the recess 2013 are milled. Because of the structure of the oral cavity of the human body, the side 2011a of the base 201 worn on the lower teeth of the patient is slightly concave, and therefore, only one first angle is selected, and the side 2011a cannot be milled. By rotating the second angle, the difficult-to-machine side 2011a may be machined such that the base 201 conforms to the alignment position of the patient's lower row of teeth and the shape of the patient's chin such that the base 201 conforms to the patient's chin and lower row of teeth.

According to the processing method and the processing system, the processing of the retainer can be automatically completed, and meanwhile, the processing process can be better adapted to the shape and the material of the retainer, so that the accuracy and the automation degree of the processing are improved.

It should be noted that the above-described method steps do not need to be performed in exactly the order set forth, but the order of the individual method steps may be adjusted as desired. In addition, while the above embodiments are described with respect to a harley-type retainer, those skilled in the art will appreciate that methods and systems according to the present disclosure are equally applicable to the fabrication of other types of orthodontic retainers.

Claims (20)

1. A method for machining an orthodontic retainer, comprising:

acquiring an oral cavity digital model;

determining, by a computing device, an orthodontic wire model from the oral digital model, and determining a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model;

processing a wire to be bent by a bending machine according to the orthodontic wire model so as to obtain an orthodontic wire;

clamping a blank to be processed on a numerical control machine tool through a clamp, and milling the blank to be processed according to the base model by the numerical control machine tool to obtain a base, wherein the base comprises: a first outer contour, a second outer contour, and a groove; and

assembling the orthodontic wire and the base together to form an orthodontic retainer,

wherein milling the blank to be processed according to the base model comprises: milling the first outer contour at an initial position by the numerical control machine tool; and

and driving the clamp to rotate around a rotation axis parallel to the horizontal direction by a first angle relative to the initial position to a first position by the numerical control machine tool, and milling a second outline and a groove of the base at the first position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first angle is between 170 ° and 190 °.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein milling the blank to be machined from the base pattern further comprises:

and driving the clamp to rotate around the rotation axis by a second angle relative to the initial position to a second position by the numerical control machine tool, and milling the side part of the first outer contour of the base at the second position.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the second angle is between 15 ° and 40 °.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein milling the blank to be machined from the base pattern further comprises: when milling the first outer contour and the second outer contour, at least three connecting parts are reserved on the base, and the base is kept into a whole with a blank to be processed through the at least three connecting parts in the milling process; and

after finishing the milling of the first and second outer contours, separating the base from the at least three connections.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises an input device, and wherein determining an orthodontic wire model from the oral cavity digital model comprises:

inputting adjustment data by the input device; and

determining the orthodontic wire model from the oral digital model and the adjustment data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjustment data comprises:

at least one of the main body height adjustment data and the U-shaped curve width adjustment data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a base model from the oral digital model and the orthodontic wire model comprises:

determining shape parameters of a base model corresponding to the first outer contour and the second outer contour according to the oral cavity digital model; and

and determining the groove position parameters and the groove shape parameters of the groove according to the orthodontic wire model.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the bending machine comprises a wire feed mechanism, a vertical position adjustment mechanism, a rotation mechanism, and a bending mechanism, wherein processing the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model to obtain the orthodontic wire comprises:

the wire feeding mechanism conveys the wire to be bent towards the bending mechanism along a first direction,

determining a plurality of positions to be bent on the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model,

for each of the plurality of positions to be bent, rotating the wire to be bent by the rotating mechanism to a corresponding angular position in an axial direction thereof, and adjusting a vertical position of the bending mechanism in a vertical direction by the vertical position adjusting mechanism, and

and bending the wire to be bent along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction by the bending mechanism at each position to be bent in the plurality of positions to be bent so as to obtain a U-shaped bent part of the orthodontic wire.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the wire to be bent is tensioned by a tensioning mechanism prior to the bending process by the bending mechanism.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein assembling the orthodontic wire and the base together comprises:

the identification mechanism identifies the groove on the base to generate identification information;

receiving identification information from the identification mechanism by a mechanical arm, carrying the orthodontic wire according to the identification information, and placing the orthodontic wire in a groove on the base;

filling material is injected into the groove by a material injection mechanism.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein assembling the orthodontic wire and the base together further comprises: the substrate is polished by a polishing device.

13. A system for machining an orthodontic retainer, the system comprising: scanning equipment, computing equipment, a bending machine, a numerical control machine tool and a fixture,

the scanning equipment is used for acquiring an oral cavity digital model;

the computing equipment is in communication connection with the scanning equipment, receives an oral cavity digital model from the scanning equipment, determines an orthodontic wire model according to the oral cavity digital model, and determines a base model according to the oral cavity digital model and the orthodontic wire model;

the bending machine is in communication connection with the computing equipment, and processes the wire to be bent according to the orthodontic wire model so as to obtain an orthodontic wire; and

the numerical control machine tool is in communication connection with the computing equipment, clamps the blank to be processed through a clamp, mills the blank to be processed according to the base model to obtain a base,

wherein the clamp is rotatable about an axis of rotation parallel to the horizontal direction to a plurality of different positions relative to an initial position.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device further comprises an input device configured to input adjustment data.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the clamp comprises:

a bridge plate having a recess;

the inner periphery of the fixing ring and the inner periphery of the groove of the bridge plate are matched with the shape of the blank to be processed, and the blank to be processed can be fixed on the bridge plate through the fixing ring.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the numerically controlled machine tool comprises a first turntable and a second turntable, the clamp being secured between the first turntable and the second turntable, the numerically controlled machine tool being rotatable about the axis of rotation to a plurality of different positions relative to an initial position by the first turntable driving the clamp.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the bending machine comprises a wire feeder, a vertical position adjustment mechanism, a rotation mechanism, and a bending mechanism,

the wire feeding mechanism can convey a wire to be bent towards the bending mechanism along a first direction;

the rotating mechanism can rotate the wire to be bent to a corresponding angle position along the axial direction of the wire to be bent;

the vertical position adjusting mechanism is connected with the bending mechanism and can adjust the vertical position of the bending mechanism along the vertical direction;

the bending mechanism can bend the wire to be bent along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction at the position to be bent.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the bending machine further comprises a tensioning mechanism for tensioning the wire to be bent prior to bending by the bending mechanism.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises: an identification mechanism, a mechanical arm and a material injection mechanism,

the identification mechanism is used for: identifying a groove on the base to generate identification information;

the mechanical arm is used for: receiving identification information from the identification mechanism, conveying the orthodontic wire according to the identification information, and placing the orthodontic wire in a groove on the base;

the material injection mechanism is used for injecting filling material into the groove.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a polishing device for polishing the substrate.