Method and apparatus for the manufacture of dental protheses
AssigneeHerbert Walter
InventorsHerbert Walter, Erich Korber, Josef Gentischer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for the manufacture of dental prostheses by means of an electroerosion process by using two template electrodes for erosive excavation. The dental prosthesis to be inserted is made directly from solid material which has not been previously worked. The negative templates of the dental prosthesis contained in the template electrodes can also be made by the electroerosion method. The manufacture of the dental prosthesis can be accomplished by a simultaneous movement of the two template electrodes or by manufacture of the two form halves of the dental prosthesis at different times.
Claims8
An apparatus for use in the manufacture of dental prostheses from solid material by means of an electroerosion process for working the dental prosthesis, comprising:
- an upper template electrode in the form of a shell having an electrically conductive inner surface shaped as a negative impression of the upper part of the prosthesis;
- a lower template electrode in the form of a shell having an electrically conductive inner surface shaped as a negative impression of the lower part of the prosthesis;
- and
- means for positioning said upper and lower template electrodes so that when said template electrodes engage, the negative impressions form the outline of the prosthesis.
A method for manufacturing dental prostheses, from solid material by means of an electroerosion process, comprising the steps of:
- preparing a model of the prosthesis, the model having both an outer surface and an inner surface, the inner surface serving to be fitted on a supporting surface of a tooth;
- preparing a first template electrode from the model to include a negative impression of a part of the outer surface of the model;
- preparing a second template electrode from the model to include a negative impression of a part of the inner surface of the model;
- and
- aligning both template electrodes and using them in an electroerosion process to excavate the prosthesis from a solid metal block, the template electrodes being applied to the metal block from opposite sides, such that at least a part of the outer surface of the prosthesis is formed by the first template electrode, and the inner surface of the prosthesis is formed by the second template electrode, thereby producing the prosthesis from the remaining part of the block between the template electrodes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.