Dental veneers and methods of manufacture
AssigneeStephan Lampl
InventorStephan Lampl
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Abstract
A dental veneer made from a composite comprising at least one organic binder, preferably with methacrylate, and inorganic solid particles as fillers. Methods for manufacturing the dental veneer include curing the composite with heat and light under pressure followed by laser treating the facial surface of the veneer to form a smoother facial surface. Filler particles at the facial surface of the veneer can be melted and/or coalesced together to form a continuous glass surface, which is more natural looking and better resembles natural tooth material as compared to ceramic veneers or other composited veneers lacking surface treatment.
Claims18
A method of manufacturing a dental veneer, comprising:
- shaping a composite material into a shape for attachment to a prepared tooth surface, the composite material comprising an organic binder and solid filler particles;
- at least partially hardening or curing the composite material;
- and
- laser treating a portion of the at least partially hardened or cured composite material to melt the solid filler particles at an exterior surface of the composite material, the solid filler particles of the exterior surface being continuously melted together to form a hardened glassy surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.