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US 4,544,354 AGranted
Anteriorly bridged dental trays
OwnerKenneth W. Gores, Carolyn C. Goresinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pair of U-shaped dentition trays are joined by a bendable bridging member that is reinforced by molded portions that function to maintain the trays biased apart and in tooth contact in a person's mouth.
Claims5
In dental apparatus that comprises a pair of U-shaped dentition troughs, formed of soft, form-retaining plastic material, formed by a bridging member connected at each end between anterior upper edges of said troughs, the improvement, comprising:
- said bridging member having a pair of fold-defining transverse creases, each crease being spaced from its joinder with an upper anterior edge of one of said troughs:
- said transverse creases being spaced apart to define between them, a connector leg of a length such that when the troughs, through folding of said creases, are brought into bottom-to-bottom juxtaposed relation, the upper anterior ends of said troughs are maintained spaced apart a distance greater than the combined thickness of the posterior extremities of said troughs;
- and
- said connector leg being provided with means stiffening the same against significant bowing while subject to the pressures normally occurring when said troughs are brought into the described bottom-to-bottom juxtaposed relation as the apparatus is disposed for insertion into a person's mouth whereby the connector leg tends to bias the dentition troughs into intimate relation to the user's teeth while the apparatus is in place in the user's mouth.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.