Orthodontic appliance

Abstract

An orthodontic appliance consisting of a two-component bracket assembly and a customized wire where the tooth component of the bracket assembly is semi-permanently glued to the tooth surface and the wire component of the bracket assembly is securely attached to the customized wire. The customized wire has a configuration that is derived from characteristics of both the mal-aligned and aligned states of the teeth. The series of wire components of the bracket assembly are separated by an inter-bracket distance and are specifically oriented along the customized wire to form the customized wire-bracket device. When the wire component and the tooth component of the bracket assembly are engaged, the alignment of the teeth occurs due to the elastic recoil of the customized wire. The customized wire-bracket device is completely detachable and re-attachable to the tooth component of the bracket assembly as are the two components of the bracket assembly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An orthodontic appliance for aligning teeth, the orthodontic appliance comprising:
 a bracket assembly comprising a tooth component and a wire component;   said tooth component semi permanently glued to the tooth surface of mal-aligned teeth;   said wire component having a wire slot to receive a customized wire;   said customized wire having a configuration derived from characteristics of the patient's simulated mal-aligned and aligned state of teeth;   said customized wire rigidly attached to a plurality of said wire components of said bracket assembly resulting in specific position and orientation of said plurality of wire components;   said customized wire attached to said plurality of wire components to form a customized wire-bracket device;   said customized wire-bracket device when attached to a plurality of said tooth components glued to the tooth surface of said mal-aligned teeth, recoils and deflects to align said mal-aligned teeth; and   said customized wire-bracket device detachable from said plurality of tooth components in one piece and re-attachable when needed.   
     
     
         2 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the position and orientation of said plurality of wire components on said customized wire is determined by an inter-bracket distance between them. 
     
     
         3 . The orthodontic appliance as described in  claim 2  wherein each of said inter-bracket distance between said plurality of wire components is the length of said customized wire between adjacent wire components in the physical or electronic model of mal-aligned teeth arrangement with replica of said bracket assembly attached to the teeth or simulated desired aligned arrangement of teeth with replica of said bracket assembly attached to the teeth whichever is greater. 
     
     
         4 . The orthodontic appliance as described in  claim 3  wherein said inter-bracket distance between the said wire components if smaller in physical or electronic models of the desired aligned arrangement of teeth, compared to the corresponding inter-bracket distance in the mal-aligned stage will consist of curves, loops and bends in the wire, such that the distance between said wire components is reduced when said customized wire is in passive state compared to the length of said customized wire between said wire components. 
     
     
         5 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said plurality of said tooth components and said plurality of wire components have different orientations to achieve the desired aligned teeth arrangement. 
     
     
         6 . The orthodontic appliance as described in  claim 5  wherein orientation of each of said plurality of wire components on said customized wire is determined by orientation of each of said tooth component and said wire component on the respective teeth on the physical or electronic model of desired aligned arrangement and such orientation is transferred to said customized wire as said customized wire contains multi-dimensional bends in order to pass passively through each of said plurality of wire components with said bracket assembly attached to the physical or electronic model of the desired aligned arrangement of the teeth. 
     
     
         7 . The orthodontic appliance as described in  claim 5  wherein orientation of each of said plurality of wire components on said customized wire is obtained by the orientation of each of said plurality of tooth components and wire components on the respective teeth on the physical or electronic model of desired aligned arrangement with over-corrected positions for, mal-aligned teeth. 
     
     
         8 . The orthodontic appliance as described in  claim 5  wherein orientation of said plurality of wire components on said customized wire is a set of predefined values. 
     
     
         9 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of tooth components is attached to the labial or lingual tooth surface. 
     
     
         10 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said customized wire may include multi-dimensional bends, curves, or twists to achieve the desired aligned teeth arrangement. 
     
     
         11 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said customized wire has a square, rectangular, or circular cross section. 
     
     
         12 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said customized wire is securely attached to said plurality of wire components with or without the use of mechanical interlocking, adhesive, chemical bonding, laser welding or similar procedures. 
     
     
         13 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said wire component may have hooks to engage inter-maxillary elastics used to correct inter jaw relationships. 
     
     
         14 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said customized wire is fabricated from plastic, polymers, metals, metal alloys, shape memory polymers, rubbers or a combination of these. 
     
     
         15 . The orthodontic appliance as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said plurality of wire components and said plurality of tooth components are fabricated from plastic, polymers, metals, metal alloys, shape memory materials or a combination of these.