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US 4,531,914 AGranted
Dental device and method for gingival retraction and conditioning
OwnerRonald P. Spinelloinventor
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OwnerRonald P. Spinelloinventor
Estimating the term…
A dental method and apparatus for swiftly performing gingival retraction and conditioning in which a mass of moldable coherent plastic, preferably thixotropic, is lightly pressure molded both into and around the gingival trough of a prepared tooth to apply substantially balanced forces around the gingival flap which maintain the gingival trough without distortion. The moldable mass is rendered hydrosorbent at least on its surface by intimately bonded absorbent fiber, enabling it to absorb all the liquids and debris which would normally preclude the material from flowing into the trough. To effect a slight enlargement of the trough and to prevent prolapse in the case of very narrow troughs a preliminary bead of flowable thixotropic material can be injected into the trough to transmit light lateral outward pressure on the flap when pressed into the trough by the moldable absorbent mass.
In a method of gingival retraction and treatment, the steps of preparing a tooth for crowning by grinding the side walls into truncated conical configuration with the base disposed in the sub-gingival area not in excess of the depth of the sulcus to define a gingival trough between the ground-down walls of the tooth and the gingival flap of surrounding tissue, placing on the tooth a body of coherent flowable and moldable material having a substantial thickness at least approximating the length of the exposed portion of the tooth and having hydrosorbent characteristics at least at its surface, applying pressure on the body axially with respect to the tooth to cause the material to flow down the conical sides of the tooth and over the gingival tissue to envelop the gingival flap while absorbing liquid matter from within the trough and withdrawing the molded body axially from the tooth to establish a substantially dry gingival trough prepared for impression taking.
A dental device for gingival retraction and conditioning prior to taking an impression comprising a highly moldable body of flowable coherent thixatropic material having a substantial thickness at least approximating the length of the exposed portion of a tooth ground to form a gingival trough defined by a free standing flap of gingival tissue around the base of the tooth, said body having, substantial hydrosorbent characteristics at least at one of its surface, said mass being adapted to be pressed onto the prepared tooth, whereby pressure on the material causes it to flow over the tooth and over the gingival flap to absorb the liquid matter from the trough and to balance the lateral forces across the flap to hold it in position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.