DENTAL APPLIANCES FROM MULTILAYER FILMS HAVING DISCRETE STRUCTURES COVERED BY AN ION PERMEABLE RELEASE LAYER

• Main Authors: Yu, Ta-Hua, Wang, Yizhong
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 08.02.2024
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR ORAL OR DENTAL HYGIENE; DENTISTRY; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A method for making a dental appliance configured to position at least one tooth of a patient includes printing a hard-enable liquid resin composition on a major surface of a polymeric material to form a pattern of discrete unhardened liquid regions thereon; at least partially hardening the unhardened liquid regions to form a corresponding array of structures on the major surface of the polymeric material, wherein the structures have a characteristic cross-sectional dimension of about 25 microns to about 1 mm, and a feature spacing of about 100 microns to about 2000 microns; forming an exterior layer comprising a ion-permeable polymeric material on the base polymeric material and the array of structures; and forming a plurality of cavities in the polymeric material to form the dental appliance including an arrangement of cavities configured to receive one or more teeth.