Alternating finger in an arch of a brushing mouthpiece
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorScott E. HALL
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dental appliance and method employing an arcuate mouthpiece with a plurality of substantially H-shaped plate segments having opposing side walls joined by transverse bridge portions splitting the opposing side walls into upper and inverted channels dimensioned for receiving the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and mandibular arches respectively so that one or more cleaning modules, such as tufted bristles, may be activated to simultaneously clean a working surface of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch and the teeth of the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments.
Claims19
A mouthpiece for a dental cleaning appliance for simultaneously cleaning one or more teeth in a maxillary dental arch and one or more teeth in a mandibular dental arch of a user, comprising:
- an arcuate mouthpiece including a plurality of plate segments configured as H-shaped members having opposing side walls, wherein each of the opposing side walls has a terminal end of a single layer portion extending to a folded end wherein the single layer portion doubles back to form an abutting inner layer of a double layer portion, and wherein the inner layers merge in a bridge portion between the opposing side walls configured so the terminal ends and the folded ends of the opposing side walls are inverted in opposed transverse juxtaposition, and wherein the opposing side walls are split by the bridge portion to form an upper channel dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch is disposed on an upper side of the plate segments and an inverted channel dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the mandibular dental arch is disposed on the underside of the plate segments beneath the upper channel;
- and
- non-rigid members coupling the plate segments so as to adaptively position an inner surface of the plate segments proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and an inner surface of the inverted channels of the plate segments is proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the mandibular dental arch so as to facilitate adaptive fit of the upper channels and the inverted channels about the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and the teeth of the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments.
(canceled)
(canceled)
A method for simultaneously cleaning one or more teeth in a maxillary dental arch and one or more teeth in a mandibular dental arch of a user, comprising:
- providing an arcuate mouthpiece including a plurality of plate segments configured as H-shaped members having opposing side walls joined by a transverse bridge portion wherein the plate segments are configured such that an upper channel is dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch is disposed on an upper side of the plate segments and an inverted channel dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the mandibular dental arch is disposed beneath the upper channel and having non-rigid members coupling plate segments so as to adaptively position the upper channel proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and the inverted channel of the plate segments proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments such that one or more cleaning modules are capable of contacting a working surface of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch and the teeth of the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments;
- driving the plate segments such that one or more cleaning modules simultaneously clean the teeth of the maxillary arch and the teeth of the mandibular arch adjacent to the plate segments;
- and
- removing the arcuate mouthpiece when a teeth cleaning operation is complete.
A dental cleaning appliance for simultaneously cleaning one or more teeth in a maxillary dental arch and one or more teeth in a mandibular dental arch of a user, comprising:
- an arcuate mouthpiece including a plurality of plate segments configured as H-shaped members having opposing side walls, wherein each of the opposing side walls has a terminal end of a single layer portion extending to a folded end wherein the single layer portion doubles back to form an abutting inner layer of a double layer portion, and wherein the inner layers merge in a bridge portion between the opposing side walls configured so the terminal ends and the folded ends of the opposing side walls are inverted in opposed transverse juxtaposition, and wherein the opposing side walls are split by the bridge portion to form an upper channel dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch is disposed on an upper side of the plate segments and an inverted channel dimensioned for receiving at least one of the teeth of the mandibular dental arch is disposed on the underside of the plate segments beneath the upper channel;
- non-rigid members coupling the plate segments so as to adaptively position an inner surface of the plate segments proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and an inner surface of the inverted channels of the plate segments is proximal to a working surface of the teeth in the mandibular dental arch so as to facilitate adaptive fit of the upper channels and the inverted channels about the teeth in the maxillary dental arch and the teeth of the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments;
- a driving mechanism connected to the arcuate mouthpiece;
- and
- one or more cleaning modules disposed on the inner surfaces of the plate segments, wherein the driving mechanism is capable of activating the cleaning modules to thereby simultaneously clean the working surface of the teeth of the maxillary dental arch and the working surface of the teeth of the mandibular dental arch adjacent to the plate segments.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.