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US 4,370,133 AGranted
Denture means and method
AssigneeCavitron Corporation
InventorJohn A. Stempel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeCavitron Corporation
InventorJohn A. Stempel
Estimating the term…
Disclosed herein is an improved tray for use in producing a denture either in-situ or by use of a model of the patient's mouth. The tray comprises a basic tray of disposable material approximating the shape of either the palate or the lower gums and having inner and outer wall portions integral therewith and forming a trough defining a gum receiving portion with a U-shape opening in the trough mounting, means for mounting a plurality of artificial teeth approximating the teeth found in either the upper or lower portion of the mouth, the mounting means having a flange portion made of dental acrylic which rests on the sides of the trough adjacent the U-shaped opening with the plurality of the teeth extending through the opening. The process of producing the denture comprises placing the tray in to a patient's mouth, pressing the deformable walls of tray against the surfaces of the patient's mouth to approximate the shape of the upper or lower part of the mouth, withdrawing the shaped tray; placing a moldable acrylic base denture forming resin in the tray; pressing the tray holding the resin against the portion of the patient's mouth until the resin cures in-situ to conform to the shape of the adjacent surfaces of the patient's mouth, withdrawing the tray containing the cured resin from the patient's mouth, and separating the tray from this cured resin, whereby the denture remains comprising the cured resin and the attached flange and artificial teeth.
An assembly for forming a denture in the mouth of a dental patient comprising a tray having inner and outer walls made of formable material and approximating the shape of the patient's gums, a trough between said walls defining therewith a gum-receiving portion, a substantially U-shaped continuous slot formed in the bottom of said trough, said assembly further including a preformed unitary structure including pre-arranged individual artificial teeth and means for removably mounting said teeth in the slot of said tray, said mounting means including a preformed flange molded about the bases of said teeth to fixedly support said teeth in said preformed unitary structure, said flange extending beyond said slot onto said walls to support said teeth in said tray so that said teeth project through said slot.
A method of forming an artificial denture for the mouth of a dental patient employing a tray having a gum-receiving portion with a U-shaped continuous slot formed therein, and a preformed unitary structure including a flange mounting a plurality of pre-arranged artificial teeth on said tray with said teeth projecting through said slot, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.