ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,370,022, issued on July 29, was assigned to Thomas F. Gessel, PLLC (Tacoma, Wash.).
"Extended buccal tube" was invented by Thomas Gessel (Tacoma, Wash.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "This disclosure generally describes an extended buccal tube which is used in connection with braces for the teeth. The extended buccal tube accommodates an arch wire of a sufficient length to allow space to be created between one or more teeth while retaining the arch wire within a tube of the extended buccal tube. As space is created and the arch wire slides through the extended buccal tube, an overall length of the arch wire may be monitored through one or...