Abstract: Aimed at solving such problems as discomfort and inconvenience of the maxillary anterior
traction appliance, an innovative design method based on FA and TRIZ was proposed. The
relationship and the component interaction matrix between the functions and structures were
established based on the FA. The TRIZ was adopted to analyze the connections between the interacted
components and sub-functions, thus forming the function-field model. Its categories were divided
based on the actual utility. Then 76 standard solutions were employed to address problems, thereby
obtaining an improved design of appliance. Finite element analysis was made to evaluate the redesign
scheme by giving the materials and forces. A comparative experiment was undertaken to evaluate the
redesign scheme. Finally, the feasibility of the FA/TRIZ integration method and evaluation method
was verified through the implementation of the innovative design of the maxillary anterior traction
appliance.

Key words: malocclusion, anterior traction, function analysis, theory of inventive problem solving, finite element analysis