Claims
- 1. A system for repositioning teeth from an initial tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement, said system comprising a plurality of dental incremental position adjustment appliances including:
a first appliance having a geometry selected to reposition the teeth from the initial tooth arrangement to a first intermediate arrangement; one or more intermediate appliances having geometries selected to progressively reposition the teeth from the first intermediate arrangement to successive intermediate arrangements; a final appliance having a geometry selected to progressively reposition the teeth from the last intermediate arrangement to the final tooth arrangement; and instructions which set forth that the patient is to wear the individual appliances in a predetermined order which will progressively move the patient's teeth toward the final arrangement.
- 2. A system as in claim 1, wherein the appliances comprise polymeric shells having cavities shaped to receive and resiliently reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement.
- 3. A system as in claim 2, wherein the tooth positions defined by the cavities in each successive appliance differ from those defined by the prior appliance by no more than 2 mm.
- 4. A system as in claim 1, comprising at least two intermediate appliances.
- 5. A system as in claim 4, comprising at least ten intermediate appliances.
- 6. A system as in claim 5, comprising at least twenty-five intermediate appliances.
- 7. A system as in claims 1-5 or 6, wherein at least some of the appliances aremarked to indicate their order of use.
- 8. A system as in claim 7, wherein the appliances are marked with sequential numbering directly on the appliances.
- 9. A system as in claim 7, wherein the appliances are marked on tags which are affixed to the appliances.
- 10. A system as in claim 7, wherein the appliances are marked by placement in a pouch.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/466,353 (Attorney Docket No. 018563-000120), now U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,548, filed on Dec. 17, 1999, which was a continuation of PCT/US98/12861 (Attorney Docket No. 018563-000120PC), filed on Jun. 19, 1998, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/947,080 (Attorney Docket No. 000110), now U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,893; filed on Oct. 8, 1997, which claims priority from provisional Application No. 60/050,342 (Attorney Docket No. 018563-000100US); filed on Jun. 20, 1997, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60050342 |
Jun 1997 |
US |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09466353 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
10159242 |
May 2002 |
US |
Parent |
PCT/US98/12861 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Child |
09466353 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08947080 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
PCT/US98/12861 |
Jun 1998 |
US |