Claims
- 1. A dental system, comprising:
one or more appliances having geometries selected to progressively reposition teeth to successive intermediate arrangements; and one or more decorations adhesively attached to the surface of the one or more appliances.
- 2. The dental system of claim 1, wherein the decorations comprise one of a semi-precious object, a synthetic object, a metal object, and a precious stone.
- 3. The dental system of claim 1, wherein the decorations comprise decals.
- 4. The dental system of claim 3, wherein the dental decal comprises a front face having a design printed thereon.
- 5. The dental system of claim 4, wherein the design is printed with nontoxic ink.
- 6. The dental system of claim 4, wherein the design is printed with hypoallergenic ink.
- 7. The dental system of claim 3, wherein the decal is ingestible.
- 8. The dental system of claim 3, wherein the dental decal comprises an adhesive layer on a rear face.
- 9. The dental system of claim 3, wherein the adhesive comprises a nontoxic material.
- 10. The dental system of claim 3, wherein the adhesive comprises a hypoallergenic material.
- 11. A method for repositioning teeth, said method comprising:
attaching a dental decoration to an appliance; and placing the appliance in a patient's mouth, wherein the appliance has a geometry selected to reposition the teeth.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the decorations comprise one of a semi-precious object, a synthetic object, a metal object, and a precious stone.
- 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the decorations comprise decals.
- 14. A method as in claim 13, wherein the appliances comprise polymeric shells having cavities shaped to receive and resiliently reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement.
- 15. A method as in claim 13, wherein the dental decal comprises a front face having a design printed thereon and an adhesive rear face.
- 16. A dental kit, comprising:
one or more appliances having geometries selected to progressively reposition the teeth to successive intermediate arrangements; and one or more dental decorations adhesively attached to the surface of the one or more appliances.
- 17. The kit of claim 16, wherein the decorations comprise one of a semi-precious object, a synthetic object, a metal object, and a precious stone.
- 18. The kit of claim 16, wherein the decorations comprise decals.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the decal comprises a design printed on the rear face and front face of the appliance.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the decal is ingestible.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/466,353 (Attorney Docket 18563-000120US) filed Dec. 17, 1999, which was a continuation of PCT/US98/12861 (Attorney Docket No. 18563-000120PC), filed Jun. 19, 1998, and a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/947,080 (Attorney Docket No. 18563-000110US), filed on Oct. 8, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,893, which claimed the benefit of provisional application 60/050,342 (Attorney Docket No. 18563-000100US), filed Jun. 20, 1997. The full disclosures of each of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60050342 |
Jun 1997 |
US |
Continuations (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09466353 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
10170322 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Parent |
PCT/US98/12861 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Child |
09466353 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Parent |
08947080 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09466353 |
Dec 1999 |
US |