Method and kits for forming pontics in polymeric shell aligners

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for forming a pontic in a polymeric shell dental appliance, including providing a polymeric shell dental appliance of the type which is removably placeable over a patient's dentition, said shell having a concave trough which conforms to the teeth when the appliance is placed over the dentition and a location in the trough corresponding to a missing tooth; and depositing a flexible, durably affixed material in the location to form the pontic.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A kit comprising: 
 a curable silicone rubber material for filling a portion of appliance trough which has been coated with the adhesive, and    instructions for use setting forth a method comprising:    determining the location in the trough where a tooth is missing from the dentition, coating the trough with a bonding agent; and    filling the location with the curable silicone rubber so that the location resembles a tooth when the location is filled.    
     
     
         2 . A kit as in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an adhesive for coating an interior surface of the appliance trough at the location to be filled; and    a brush for applying the adhesive to the appliance trough.    
     
     
         3 . A kit as in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one nozzle for use with an applicator for the curable silicone rubber.  
     
     
         4 . A kit as in  claim 3 , further comprising one or more additional nozzles or use with the applicator, wherein at least two nozzles have different tip sizes.  
     
     
         5 . A kit as in  claim 4 , wherein at least two nozzles have different tip sizes.  
     
     
         6 . A kit as in  claim 1 , wherein the curable silicone rubber is tooth-shaded.  
     
     
         7 . A kit as in  claim 6 , further comprising a second curable silicone rubber having a different tooth-shade.  
     
     
         8 . A kit as in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one spatula tool for shaping the filler material before or after it has been placed in the appliance trough.  
     
     
         9 . A kit as in  claim 8 , comprising at least a spatula for shaping the material before curing and a knife for shaping the material after it has hardened.  
     
     
         10 . A kit as in  claim 1 , wherein filling comprises dispensing the curable silicone rubber from a dispenser having a nozzle.  
     
     
         11 . A kit as in  claim 10 , wherein the nozzle is removable and dispensing comprises choosing a nozzle size and connecting the chosen nozzle to the dispenser.  
     
     
         12 . A kit as in  claim 1 , wherein filling comprises shaping the curable silicone rubber with a tool.  
     
     
         13 . A kit as in  claim 1 , wherein filling comprises curing a silicon rubber to harden said material in situ.  
     
     
         14 . A kit as in  claim 1 , further comprising coating the location in the trough prior to filling with a bonding agent.  
     
     
         15 . A kit as in  claim 14 , wherein coating comprises applying a bonding agent.  
     
     
         16 . A kit as in  claim 15 , wherein the curable silicone rubber is tooth-shaded.  
     
     
         17 . A kit as in  claim 16 , further comprising selecting a curable silicone rubber having a desired tooth-shade.  
     
     
         18 . An improved method for repositioning teeth using polymeric shell appliances which each have a trough to receive and resiliently reposition teeth, wherein the appliances have different geometries and are worn successively by a patient to reposition teeth, wherein the improvement comprises providing a pontic at a location in at least one of the appliance troughs to fill a gap between teeth when the appliance is worn.  
     
     
         19 . An improved method as in  claim 18 , wherein the improvement further comprises providing a pontic at a location in at least one additional of the appliance troughs to fill the gap between teeth when the additional appliance is worn.  
     
     
         20 . An improved method as in  claim 19 , wherein the gap is being closed as the teeth are repositioned, wherein the size of the pontic is reduced in successive appliances.  
     
     
         21 . An improved method as in  claim 20 , wherein presence of the pontic when the appliance is worn inhibits collapse of adjacent teeth into the gap as the adjacent teeth are moved together to close the gap.  
     
     
         22 . A method for forming a pontic in a polymeric shell dental appliance, said method comprising: 
 determining a location where a tooth is missing from a patient's dentition;    generating a mold for a polymeric shell dental appliance with a cavity enclosing the location;    forming a polymeric shell dental appliance of the type which is removably placeable over the dentition; and    filling the cavity with a curable silicone rubber that resembles a tooth.    
     
     
         23 . A method as in  claim 22 , wherein filling comprises dispensing a curable silicone rubber wherein the curable silicone rubber is an addition reaction polyvinylsiloxane.  
     
     
         24 . A method as in  claim 22 , wherein filling comprises dispensing a curable silicone rubber wherein the curable silicone rubber is a condensation reaction polysiloxane.  
     
     
         25 . A method as in  claim 23 , wherein the curable silicone rubber is tooth-shaded.  
     
     
         26 . A method as in  claim 24 , further comprising selecting a curable silicone rubber source having a desired tooth-shade.  
     
     
         27 . A method as in  claim 22 , further comprising filling in the cavity when generating the mold.