IRRADIATION TECHNIQUES FOR ORTHODONTIC ALIGNERS
Devices and methods for orthodontic treatments are disclosed. An orthodontic treatment may include patient-specific aligners formed of a polymeric material and configured to rearrange a patient's teeth according to a treating clinician's treatment plan. In some embodiments, a portion of the aligner may be irradiated or otherwise exposed to a specific light treatment, which may serve to change the stiffness of that portion of the aligner. In this way, the aligner may have a non-uniform stiffness profile, which may serve to apply different forces to different teeth when stationed in a patient's mouth. Modifying the magnitude of forces applied to the teeth and more precisely tuning the spatial distribution of the forces may expedite the orthodontic treatment.
1 . A method of manufacturing a patient-specific aligner, the method comprising:
obtaining an aligner; and
irradiating at least a first portion of the aligner to achieve a stiffness of the at least a first portion of the aligner that is different from a stiffness of a different portion of the aligner.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient; and
creating a three-dimensional computer-assisted design model of the patient's teeth based on the dentition data.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising using an additive manufacturing technique to form the aligner using the three-dimensional computer-assisted design model.
4 . A method of manufacturing a patient-specific aligner, the method comprising:
irradiating at least a first portion of an aligner to achieve a stiffness of the at least a first portion of the aligner that is different from a stiffness of a different portion of the aligner while forming the aligner with a manufacturing technique.
5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
accessing dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient; and
creating a three-dimensional computer-assisted design model of the patient's teeth based on the dentition data.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising using the manufacturing technique to form the aligner using the three-dimensional computer-assisted design model, wherein the manufacturing technique is an additive manufacturing technique.
7 . A patient-specific aligner formed by a process comprising the steps of:
obtaining an aligner; and
irradiating at least a first portion of the aligner to achieve a stiffness of the at least a first portion of the aligner that is different from a stiffness of a different portion of the aligner.
8 . The aligner of claim 7 , further comprising:
accessing dentition data of a profile of teeth of a patient; and
creating a three-dimensional computer-assisted design model of the patient's teeth based on the dentition data.
9 . The aligner of claim 8 , further comprising using an additive manufacturing technique to form the aligner using the three-dimensional computer-assisted design model.
10 . A patient-specific aligner comprising:
a first irradiated portion;
a second irradiated portion; and
at least one un-irradiated portion,
wherein a first stiffness of the first irradiated portion is different from a second stiffness of the un-irradiated portion, and wherein a third stiffness of the second irradiated portion is different from the second stiffness of the un-irradiated portion.
11 . The aligner of claim 10 , wherein the aligner is formed of a polyurethane material.
12 . The aligner of claim 10 , wherein the aligner is formed with an additive manufacturing technique.
13 . The aligner of claim 10 , wherein the first stiffness of the first irradiated portion is different from the third stiffness of the second irradiated portion.