Stabilizing retainer system
OwnerJack Piekarskyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for maintaining the position of a series of teeth in the mouth includes a thin, conformable wire spanning the series of teeth and secured to the surfaces of the teeth by a plurality of individual bonding pads placed over the conformable wire and bonded one each to each tooth to secure the conformable wire in place and to stabilize the position of the series of teeth.
Claims16
A stabilizing retainer for maintaining the position of a series of teeth in the mouth, each tooth of the series including a surface area bounded by peripheral edges and having given surface contours, said stabilizing retainer comprising:
- a relatively thin, conformable wire for placement in a predetermined position in which the wire spans the series of teeth and is conformed into contiguity with the series of teeth;
- a plurality of individual, relatively thin bonding pads for being bonded, one each to each tooth of the series of teeth, each bonding pad including peripheral edges, an obverse surface and a reverse surface;
- basal surface portions on the reverse surface of each bonding pad, the basal surface portions having a surface contour complementary to the surface area of a corresponding tooth of said series of teeth and a surface area less than the corresponding surface area of said tooth such that the peripheral edges of each bonding pad will be spaced from the peripheral edges of the corresponding tooth when said bonding pad is bonded to said tooth;
- and
- a transverse channel in each bonding pad, the transverse channel being generally complementary to the wire and open toward the reverse surface for receiving the conformable wire to locate each bonding pad and secure the conformable wire in said predetermined position when the bonding pads are placed over the conformable wire and bonded to said series of teeth.
The method of stabilizing the position of a series of teeth in the mouth, each tooth of the series including a surface area bounded by peripheral edges and having given surface contours, said method comprising the steps of:
- placing and conforming a relatively thin, conformable wire in a predetermined position wherein the wire spans the series of teeth and is conformed into contiguity with the series of teeth;
- holding the conformable wire in said predetermined position;
- placing a plurality of individual, relatively thin bonding pads over the conformable wire and against the series of teeth, with one bonding pad against each tooth of the series of teeth;
- bonding each bonding pad to a corresponding tooth and to the conformable wire to secure the wire in said predetermined position and stabilize the position of the series of teeth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.