Surgical guide for surgical assisted palatal expansion
OwnerJun SATO, Jeremy RILEY +2inventors
InventorsJun SATO, Jeremy RILEY, Fan FEI, Mitra DERAKHSHAN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Surgical guides (e.g., adjustable splints) that may be used for a temporal expansion and contraction of the palate during and/or after surgical operation on a palatal suture may include first and second tooth-engaging regions and an expandable palatal region including a linkage to allow controlled expansion/contraction of the palatal region. These apparatuses may be configured to allow measurement or estimation of the mobility of the palate (e.g., maxillary segments) and/or locking of the palate in a desired target width.
Claims22
An apparatus for assisting in an oral surgery, the apparatus comprising:
- a first tooth-receiving portion configured to engage with teeth on a first side of a patient's upper jaw;
- a second tooth-receiving portion configured to engage with teeth on a second side of the patient's upper jaw, wherein the apparatus is removably wearable over the patient's upper teeth without bonding;
- an expandable and retractable palatal region extending between the first and second tooth-receiving portions, the palatal region comprising:
- a first palatal segment coupled to, or integrally formed with, the first tooth-receiving portion;
- a second palatal segment coupled to, or integrally formed with, the second tooth-receiving portion;
- one or more linkages movably connecting the first and second palatal segments;
- and
- a lock configured to selectively fix a relative position of the first and second palatal segments.
A method of assisting in palatal expansion in a patient, comprising:
- performing one or more incisions of the patient's palate and/or adjacent regions to allow repositioning of maxillary segments forming the patient's palate;
- monitoring expansion of an apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises a first palatal segment coupled to a first tooth-receiving portion worn on one or more teeth in the patient's upper jaw and a second palatal segment coupled to a second tooth-receiving portion worn on a second one or more teeth in the patient's upper jaw, wherein the first and second palatal segments are movably coupled via one or more linkages between the first and second palatal segment;
- and
- stopping or adjusting the one or more incisions based on a spacing between the first and second palatal segments.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.