Custom-fit dental guard
AssigneeBrown Innovation, LLC
InventorThomas W. Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dental guard (10) for preventing wear of the occlusal surfaces of a user's teeth resulting from bruxism is provided. The dental guard (10) can be can be custom-fitted to the teeth of the wearer. The guard (10) comprises a durable core (14) that is overmolded by a thermoplastic outer layer (12). The outer layer (12) can be softened through exposure to hot, but not boiling, water, and then formed around the user's teeth. The guard (10) may include one or more features (32, 84) that assist the user in proper positioning of the guard within his or her mouth during the custom fitting process.
Claims15
A bite pad core of a dental guard comprising a pair of bite pads interconnected by an anterior arch segment, each of the pair of bite pads comprising opposed maxillary and mandibular occlusal surfaces, each of the pair of bite pads comprising one or more flexible hinges formed therein that divide each of the pair of bite pads into respective bite pad segments, the one or more flexible hinges permitting pivoting of at least one bite pad segment relative to another bite pad segment, wherein at least one of the one or more flexible hinges is parallel to or contiguous with a longitudinal axis of at least one of the pair of bite pads, and wherein the one or more flexible hinges comprise an area of reduced thickness in the pair of bite pads.
A bite pad core of a dental guard comprising a pair of bite pads interconnected by an anterior arch segment, each of the pair of bite pads comprising opposed maxillary and mandibular occlusal surfaces, wherein the maxillary occlusal surfaces of one of the pair of bite pads is located within a first plane, at least a portion of the anterior arch segment having a maxilla-facing surface located within a second plane, the relative angle between the first plane and the second plane being from about 20° to about 50°, wherein the at least a portion of the arch segment is configured to reside within a user's occlusal plane when the dental guard is fitted to the user's mouth.
A bite pad core of a dental guard comprising a pair of bite pads interconnected by an anterior arch segment, each of the pair of bite pads comprising opposed maxillary and mandibular occlusal surfaces, and a positioning element located in a posterior portion of each of the pair of bite pads and extending from the maxillary occlusal surface of each of the pair of bite pads, the positioning element being adapted to be received in the occlusal groove between the buccal and lingual cusps of a maxillary molar, wherein the at least a portion of the anterior arch segment is configured to reside within a user's occlusal plane when the dental guard is fitted to the user's mouth.
A bite pad core of a dental guard comprising a pair of bite pads interconnected by an anterior arch segment, the bite pad core comprising at least one positioning element extending from a surface of each of the pair of bite pads or the anterior arch segment, the positioning element, when overmolded with an outer layer thereby forming the dental guard, assists the user with positioning the dental guard relative to the user's maxillary teeth during custom fitting of the dental guard, wherein the at least a portion of the anterior arch segment is configured to reside within a user's occlusal plane when the dental guard is fitted to the user's mouth.
A bite pad core of a dental guard comprising a pair of bite pads interconnected by an the anterior arch segment, wherein the bite pad core comprises a lattice structure extending from each of the pair of bite pads and anterior arch segment, the bite pad core being of one-piece, unitary construction with the lattice structure being formed from the same material as the pair of bite pads and the anterior arch segment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.