Dental impression kit and methods therefor

Abstract

A method of administering the contents of a dental impression kit. The method includes sending a dental impression kit to a user, receiving one or more photos of the user's mouth, the one or more photos having been taken while the dental appliance is positioned at least partially within the user's mouth, receiving the initial dental impression created by the user by administering the initial dental assembly, and receiving the redundant dental impression created by the user by administering the redundant dental assembly. The initial dental impression and the redundant dental impression provide information necessary to manufacture a plurality of dental aligners specific to the user and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of administering the contents of a dental impression kit, the method comprising:
 sending a dental impression kit to a user, the dental impression kit including a container containing an initial dental assembly, a redundant dental assembly, and a dental appliance, the initial dental assembly and the redundant dental assembly including respective initial and redundant dental trays and putty, the putty provided in an amount to be positioned in the initial dental tray for creating an initial dental impression and in the redundant dental tray for creating a redundant dental impression, the dental appliance configured to hold open the user's upper and lower lips simultaneously to permit visualization of the user's teeth and further configured to continue holding open the user's upper and lower lips in a hands-free manner after being positioned at least partially within the user's mouth,   receiving one or more photos of the user's mouth, the one or more photos having been taken while the dental appliance is positioned at least partially within the user's mouth,   receiving the initial dental impression created by the user by administering the initial dental assembly, and   receiving the redundant dental impression created by the user by administering the redundant dental assembly,   wherein the initial dental impression and the redundant dental impression provide information necessary to manufacture a plurality of dental aligners specific to the user and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the putty comprises a base putty and a catalyst putty that are mixable to form a putty mixture,
 wherein the initial dental impression is created by the user:
 positioning the initial putty mixture in the initial dental tray of the initial dental assembly, and 
 positioning the initial dental tray of the initial dental assembly in the user's mouth to create the initial dental impression in the initial putty mixture, and 
   wherein the redundant dental impression is created by the user:
 positioning the redundant putty mixture in the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly, and 
 positioning the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly in the user's mouth to create the redundant dental impression in the redundant putty mixture. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the initial dental impression is further created by the user:
 mixing the base putty with the catalyst putty for a first duration to form the putty mixture,   positioning the putty mixture in the initial dental tray within a second duration from a time that containers for the base putty and the catalyst putty are opened, and   retaining the initial dental tray within the user's mouth for a third duration to create the initial dental impression.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the putty mixture is formed by mixing the base putty and the catalyst putty for a duration of time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the initial dental impression is created by the user positioning the putty mixture in the initial dental tray within a duration of time from a time that containers for the base putty and the catalyst putty are opened. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the initial dental impression is created by the user retaining the initial dental tray within the user's mouth for a duration of time to create the initial dental impression. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the base putty comprises an initial base putty and a redundant base putty, and the catalyst putty comprises an initial catalyst putty and a redundant catalyst putty, and
 wherein the initial base putty and the initial catalyst putty are mixable to form an initial putty mixture, and the redundant base putty and the redundant catalyst putty are mixable to form a redundant putty mixture.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dental appliance comprises a handle having two ends and a pair of flanges at each end of the handle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each pair of flanges is U-shaped, thereby forming a cavity between the flanges, and wherein each cavity is configured to receive a portion of the user's upper and lower lips. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the initial dental impression and receiving the redundant dental impression comprise receiving the initial dental impression and the redundant dental impression in the container. 
     
     
         11 . A dental impression kit comprising:
 a container comprising:   a dental assembly and a dental appliance, the dental assembly including a dental tray, a base putty, and a catalyst putty, the base putty and the catalyst putty being mixable to form a putty mixture, the dental appliance configured to hold open the user's upper and lower lips simultaneously to permit visualization of the user's teeth and further configured to continue holding open the user's upper and lower lips in a hands-free manner after being positioned at least partially within the user's mouth,   wherein the dental appliance is configured to be positioned at least partially within the user's mouth while the user takes one or more photos of the user's mouth,   wherein the putty mixture is configured to be positioned in the dental tray, and   wherein the dental tray with the putty mixture is configured to be positioned within the user's mouth to create a dental impression in the putty mixture.   
     
     
         12 . The dental impression kit of  claim 11 , wherein the dental assembly is an initial dental assembly, and wherein the container further includes a redundant dental assembly including a redundant dental tray,
 wherein additional putty mixture is configured to be positioned in the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly, and   wherein the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly is configured to be positioned in the user's mouth to create a redundant dental impression in the additional putty mixture.   
     
     
         13 . The dental impression kit of  claim 12 , wherein the initial dental assembly and the redundant dental assembly are separated from one another in the container. 
     
     
         14 . The dental impression kit of  claim 13 , wherein the initial dental assembly and the redundant dental assembly are positioned on separate layers within the container. 
     
     
         15 . The dental impression kit of  claim 14 , wherein the initial dental assembly is positioned on a first layer within the container, and the redundant dental assembly is positioned on a second layer within the container beneath the first layer. 
     
     
         16 . The dental impression kit of  claim 12 , wherein the base putty comprises an initial base putty and a redundant base putty, the catalyst putty comprises an initial catalyst putty and a redundant catalyst putty,
 wherein the initial base putty and the initial catalyst putty are mixable to form an initial putty mixture, and the redundant base putty and the redundant catalyst putty are mixable to form a redundant putty mixture,   wherein the initial putty mixture is the putty mixture positioned in the dental tray, and wherein the redundant putty mixture is the additional putty mixture positioned in the redundant dental tray.   
     
     
         17 . The dental impression kit of  claim 16 , wherein each of the initial base putty, the redundant base putty, the initial catalyst putty, and the redundant catalyst putty are provided in the container in separate putty containers. 
     
     
         18 . The dental impression kit of  claim 11 , wherein the base putty is configured to be mixed with the catalyst putty for a first duration to produce the putty mixture,
 wherein the putty mixture is configured to be positioned in the dental tray within a second duration from a time that containers for the base putty and the catalyst putty are opened, and   wherein the dental tray is configured to be retained within the user's mouth for a third duration to create the dental impression.   
     
     
         19 . The dental impression kit of  claim 18 , wherein the first duration, the second duration, and the third duration are each different durations of time. 
     
     
         20 . The dental impression kit of  claim 11 , wherein the container is configured to contain the dental impression while the container having the dental impression is delivered to an entity associated with manufacture of a plurality of dental aligners. 
     
     
         21 . The dental impression kit of  claim 11 , wherein the dental appliance comprises a handle having two ends and a pair of flanges at each end of the handle. 
     
     
         22 . The dental impression kit of  claim 21 , wherein each pair of flanges is U-shaped, thereby forming a cavity between the flanges, and wherein each cavity is configured to receive a portion of the user's upper and lower lips. 
     
     
         23 . A method of administering contents of a dental impression kit, the method comprising:
 receiving a dental impression kit, the dental impression kit including a container containing an initial dental assembly, a redundant dental assembly, and a dental appliance, the initial dental assembly and the redundant dental assembly include respective initial and redundant dental trays and putty, the putty provided in an amount to be positioned in the initial dental tray for creating an initial dental impression and in the redundant dental tray for creating a redundant dental impression, the dental appliance configured to hold open the user's upper and lower lips simultaneously to permit visualization of the user's teeth,   utilizing the dental appliance to hold open the user's lips to permit visualization of the user's teeth by positioning the dental appliance at least partially within the user's mouth, wherein the dental appliance is configured to continue holding open the user's lips in a hands-free manner after being positioned at least partially within the user's mouth,   taking one or more photos of the user's mouth with the dental appliance at least partially positioned within the user's mouth,   administering the initial dental assembly to create the initial dental impression according to an initial instruction, and   administering the redundant dental assembly to create the redundant dental impression according to a redundant instruction,   wherein the initial dental impression and the redundant dental impression provide information necessary to manufacture a plurality of dental aligners specific to a user and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the user.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the putty comprises a base putty and a catalyst putty that are mixable to form a putty mixture, the method further comprising:
 mixing the base putty with the catalyst putty to form an initial putty mixture and a redundant putty mixture,   positioning the initial putty mixture in the initial dental tray of the initial dental assembly,   positioning the initial dental tray of the initial dental assembly in the user's mouth to create the initial dental impression in the initial putty mixture,   positioning the redundant putty mixture in the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly, and   positioning the redundant dental tray of the redundant dental assembly in the user's mouth to create the redundant dental impression in the redundant putty mixture.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 mixing the base putty with the catalyst for a first duration,   positioning the putty mixture in the initial dental tray within a second duration from a time that containers for the base putty and the catalyst putty are opened, and   retaining the initial dental tray within the user's mouth for a third duration to create the initial dental impression.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 positioning the putty mixture in the initial dental tray within a duration of time from a time that containers for the base putty and the catalyst putty are opened.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 retaining the initial dental tray within the user's mouth for a duration of time to create the initial dental impression.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the base putty comprises an initial base putty and a redundant base putty, the catalyst putty comprises an initial catalyst putty and a redundant catalyst putty, and wherein mixing the base putty with the catalyst putty to form the initial putty mixture and the redundant putty mixture comprises:
 mixing the initial base putty with the initial catalyst putty to form the initial putty mixture, and   mixing the redundant base putty with the redundant catalyst putty to form the redundant putty mixture.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the dental appliance comprises a handle having two ends and a pair of flanges at each end of the handle. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein each pair of flanges is U-shaped, thereby forming a cavity between the flanges, and wherein each cavity is configured to receive a portion of the user's upper and lower lips.