Henry Schein Orthodontics:
Angled Bond Rod Fixture
The first prototype of the fixture design
During my internship at Henry Schein Orthodontics I practiced fixture design and conducted verification testing. As part of a larger project to create the Motion Pro orthodontic device, I was tasked with designing and building a verfication fixture to test the new Motion Pro design against the previous Carriere Motion 3D orthodontic appliances.
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The fixture was intended to replicate the forces of jaw movement and place the orthodontic appliance in an orientation identical to its application. The appliance is typically glued to a molar and cuspid tooth with a rubber band stretching between the opposite jaw and the hook on the orthodontic appliance.
This design started as a smaller concept and then developed into a larger fixture for more adjustability. The intention with this design was to make the structure rigid and strong enough to withstand lots of testing as well as adjustable enough to conduct testing at different angles and on different products.
The finished fixture design
Solidworks CAD model of final fixture
I met those design requirements by creating an open mouth, bite, closed mouth, and horizontal angle positions adjustable via a quick release pin. I also made a replica molar and cuspid surface rods with specially designed bonding grooves that could be reprinted and replaced for as many tests as needed. These rods were also held in place with quick release pins. The mount for these rods was also designed for adjustability to accommodate different size brackets for different size mouths, adjustable via a wing nut and guided by a linear bearing and tongue groove.