| abstract |
The process for making an orthodontic appliance comprises making an occlusal model of the patient's current dental arch, making an idealized dental arch model by positioning correctly tooth replicas, providing bracket supports guided on a guide device, setting the brackets in position on the tooth replicas by bracket supports so that the bottoms of the openings of the brackets next to each other lie along a line which follows an idealized course for the orthodontic arch wire, then making at least one negative extending over at least one tooth replica from a hardenable material and combining the negative with a reference element projecting from each of the bracket supports to form a reference unit for a tooth replica, removing the reference units from the guide device, filling intervening spaces resulting from the positioning the brackets, setting the reference units with a hardenable compensating mass on the tooth replicas, installing the reference units on the dental arch, adjusting the position of the brackets with the bracket supports, fixing the brackets, removing the reference units and installing the orthodontic arch wire. An apparatus for carrying out this process is also described. |