Oral appliance for delivery of medicaments and/or other substances
OwnerPeter John Zegarelliinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An oral appliance is provided for delivering a medicament to at least a portion of teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside a mouth. The oral appliance contains an interior surface having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion of and/or the entire interior surface of the oral appliance. The interior surface of the oral cavity is formed to fit contours of at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity and is configured for holding the medicament in contact with at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity to deliver the medicament to strategic areas in need of treatment. In some embodiments, computer, network and computer readable storage media are provided.
Claims16
A method of delivering a medicament to the teeth and soft tissues inside the oral cavity, the method comprising:
- providing an oral appliance comprising an interior surface having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion of and/or all of the interior surface of the oral appliance, the interior surface being formed to fit contours of at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity and being configured for supporting and holding the medicament in contact with at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity to deliver the medicament, wherein the oral appliance is made by a computer implemented method, the computer implemented method comprising creating a digital image of the oral cavity by obtaining a baseline digital image of at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas of the oral cavity using an imaging device;
- obtaining a first digital image of the oral appliance based on the baseline digital image corresponding to the at least the portion of the teeth, and/or soft tissue areas of the oral cavity of the baseline image, creating a second digital image based on the baseline digital image corresponding to at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas of the oral cavity in need of treatment with the medicament;
- combining the first digital image and the second digital image to form a third digital image of the oral appliance that comprises a treatment area for treatment with the medicament and storing the third digital image in the computer;
- instructing a 3D printer to produce the oral appliance from at least the stored third digital image;
- producing the oral appliance having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion and/or all of the interior surface and delivering the medicament to the teeth and soft tissues inside the oral cavity.
A method of delivering a medicament to the teeth and soft tissues inside the oral cavity, the method comprising providing an oral appliance comprising an interior surface having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion of and/or all of the interior surface of the oral appliance, the interior surface being formed to fit contours of at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity and being configured for supporting and holding the medicament in contact with at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity to deliver the medicament, wherein the oral appliance is produced by a computer implemented method, the computer implemented method comprising generating first digital data representing a first virtual layer overlying and conforming to a baseline digital image which is a digitally stored topography of the oral cavity produced by an imaging device;
- generating a second digital data from the baseline digital image by performing a digital segmentation defining at least one treatment surface area including discrete regions of the oral cavity in need of treatment, and producing said second digital data so as to represent a second virtual layer circumscribed by said at least one treatment surface area and including a volume extending into said topography;
- combining the first digital data and the second digital data to form third digital data representing said first virtual layer having a surface with said at least one second virtual layer added onto the surface and being configured to direct a 3D printer, wherein the treatment surface comprises discrete regions where at least one medicament is to be placed;
- directing the 3D printer to produce the oral appliance containing the at least one medicament;
- and producing the oral appliance having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion and/or all of the interior surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.