Smc crown shells
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsNaimul Karim, Sumita B. Mitra, Marcelino Salviejo-Rivas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dental article such as a crown is fabricating by layering one or more preformed shells of SMC material onto an understructure. The understructure may be fabricated from any suitably strong material for use in replacing dentition. At the same time, a number of SMC shells may be used to provide a finished dental article having a natural-looking, multi-chromatic appearance. The SMC material(s) may be cured to provide an exterior hardness suitable for use in dental applications.
Claims32
A method comprising:
- providing a plurality of shells having a range of colors and opacities, each one of the plurality of shells fashioned from a self-supporting, malleable, curable (SMC) material;
- fabricating an understructure for a dental article, the understructure having an exterior surface approximately matching an interior surface of each one of the plurality of shells;
- selecting one of the plurality of shells to provide a selected shell;
- placing the selected shell on the understructure;
- manually adjusting the selected shell to obtain a substantially exact fit to the exterior surface of the understructure;
- and
- curing the selected shell.
A method comprising:
- providing a plurality of shells having a range of sizes including at least one shell having an exterior size and shape that fits within and abuts an inner surface of at least one other shell, each one of the plurality of shells fashioned from a self-supporting, malleable, curable (SMC) material;
- fabricating an understructure for a dental article, the understructure having an exterior surface approximately matching an interior surface of at least one of the plurality of shells;
- selecting a first one of the plurality of shells having an interior surface approximately matching the exterior surface of the understructure to provide a first selected shell;
- placing the first selected shell on the understructure;
- manually adjusting the first selected shell to obtain a substantially exact fit to the exterior surface of the understructure;
- and
- curing the first selected shell.
A kit comprising a plurality of shells for building a dental article upon an understructure having a predetermined shape, each one of the plurality of shells fashioned from a self-supporting, malleable, curable (SMC) material, and the plurality of shells are shaped and sized so that at least one of the plurality of shells has an exterior surface substantially matching an interior surface of at least one other one of the plurality of shells.
28-32. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.