Dental Appliance for Treatment of Bruxism And Sleep Apnea
OwnerR. Joseph Magnessinventor
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Abstract
A dental appliance is disclosed. The appliance may include an arcuate base shaped to extend along at least a portion of an upper dental arch of a patient and match with a custom fit at least certain maxillary teeth of the patient. The appliance may further include a tongue-retention feature. The tongue-retention feature may connect to the arcuate base and comprise a palatal portion and a sublingual portion. The sublingual portion may cooperate with the palatal portion to form a cavity shaped to receive an anterior portion of a tongue of the patient therewithin. The palatal portion may have an exterior surface custom-formed to match at least a portion of a hard palate of the patient.
Claims21
1-20. (canceled)
A monolithic dental appliance configured to be worn within a mouth of a user, the monolithic dental appliance comprising:
- an upper portion custom formed to engage at least a portion of maxillary teeth of the user;
- a lower portion custom formed to engage at least a portion of mandibular teeth of the user;
- and
- a tongue-retention feature connected to the upper portion and the lower portion,
- wherein the tongue-retention feature is configured to engage an anterior portion of a tongue of the user and maintain the tongue in a forward position, and
- wherein the upper portion and the lower portion are positioned relative to one another to control a relative position of a lower jaw of the user with respect to an upper jaw of the user.
A method comprising:
- obtaining a three-dimensional digital model of at least a portion of a mouth of a user, the three-dimensional digital model including at least certain maxillary teeth and at least certain mandibular teeth of the user;
- and
- creating, within a computer system, a virtual dental appliance based on the digital model, the virtual dental appliance comprising:
- a virtual upper portion custom formed to engage at least a portion of the maxillary teeth of the user;
- a virtual lower portion custom formed to engage at least a portion of the mandibular teeth of the user;
- and
- a virtual tongue-retention feature connected to the virtual upper portion and configured to engage an anterior portion of a tongue of the user to maintain the tongue in a forward position,
- wherein the virtual upper portion and the virtual lower portion are positioned relative to one another to control a relative position of a lower jaw of the user with respect to an upper jaw of the user.
A monolithic dental appliance configured to be worn within a mouth of a user, the monolithic dental appliance comprising:
- a base custom formed to engage at least a portion of maxillary teeth of the user;
- a palatal portion extending from the base and comprising:
- an exterior surface custom formed to match at least a portion of a hard palate of the user;
- and
- an interior surface configured to contact a forward, upper surface of a tongue of the user;
- and
- a sublingual portion extending from the base and configured to contact a forward, lower surface of the tongue,
- wherein the palatal portion and the sublingual portion cooperate to define a cavity configured to receive an anterior portion of the tongue and to maintain the tongue in a forward position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.