The invention provides a new orthodontic device for use with the arch wire that is employed in an orthodontic procedure to connect together the orthodontic brackets attached to the teeth. The device comprises a core member having an axial bore to permit it to be threaded onto the wire, the external face of the core member being frustro-conical. The core member is pressed axially into a cylindrical sleeve having a tapered inner face complementary to the core frustro-conical outer face, and the core has a longitudinal slit in its circumference extending from the outer face to the bore so that as it is forced into the sleeve it can clamp tightly onto the wire. The device preferably is used with special pliers having ends which are slotted to fit over the wire and recessed to embrace the device, so that as the pliers ends are closed together the core is forced into the sleeve. The device can be used per se as an end stop, e.g. to stop relative axial movements between the wire and a bracket. A number of different members can be attached to the exterior of the sleeve so as to be fastened by the device to the arch wire, such as an elastic-engaging hook, a tooth-engaging torquing device, a spring device, and a Herbst appliance.
An archwire is comprised of an elongated wire of nickel/titanium alloy in a generally arcuate configuration and a pair of tubular metallic sleeves in spaced apart relationship at predetermined points along the length of the wire. The sleeves are crimped onto the wire, and an upstanding metallic post is bonded on each of the sleeves. The posts are seated in the crimped area of the archwire and are secured thereto by brazing. The crimp formation is then heat set.
An orthodontic attachment device especially useful for coupling interarch and intra-arch appliances to an archwire includes an elongated wire that extends alongside the archwire. The wire is fixed to a crimpable connector having a passageway that receives the archwire. Wall portions surrounding the passageway are deformable in directions toward the passageway in order to non-rotatably couple the device to the archwire. In certain embodiments, a pin having an offset portion is connected to the appliance at a location remote from the attachment device in order to increase free play of the appliance when the patient's jaws are opened.
An arch wire is provided with one or more sleeves, each of which is a close fit on the wire and in turn fits closely into the bracket slot in which it is inserted. The wire/sleeve combination and the bracket cooperate to produce the desired rotation and tipping of the tooth while, if required, the sleeve/bracket combination can slide freely along the wire. This permits the use of very light moving forces and the use of a wire of uniform cross-section along its length while permitting changes of the wire cross-section for each and any bracket to provide the desired orthodontic action. Preferably the wire and sleeve cross-sections cooperate to hold the sleeve against rotation about a mesial-distal axis. The ends of the sleeve may be splayed to limit its endwise movement in the bracket slot. A sleeve may extend over more than one bracket. The sleeve may be a continuous tube, or it may be slit mesially-distally along its lingual face that is within the slot.
An orthodontic attachment device connects an intra-oral appliance to other orthodontic components in the oral cavity. The attachment device is particularly useful for telescoping-type interarch appliances that tend to reposition one dental arch relative to the other dental arch. The attachment device includes a first section that is non-rotatably connected to an archwire, and a second section that has an opening. The opening of the second section pivotally receives a coupler of the interarch appliance.
An archwire assembly comprises an archwire with a crimpable sleeve adapted to slidably move along the archwire so as to be positioned between two adjacent brackets of orthodontic braces. The archwire assembly further includes a stop applied to the archwire and adapted to limit the movement of the sleeve along the archwire. The stop may include removable stops where the sleeve is movable along the archwire between the stops. The removable stops may be movable along the archwire with the application of a sufficient force. The stop may also include a friction-creating substance applied to either the sleeve or the archwire such that it takes a sufficient force to move the sleeve along the archwire. The stop may also include a partially crimped sleeve applied to the archwire such that it takes a sufficient force to move the sleeve along the archwire.
