Oral appliance

An oral appliance adapted for repositioning the temporomandibular joint, said appliance including a base portion, said base portion being of generally U-shaped or parabolic plan form and including opposite integrally formed side arms adapted for location between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws of a user, said side arms having leading and trailing edges, outer and inner flange portions integrally formed with said side arms and extending along the leading and trailing edges thereof and to opposite sides thereof so as to form upper and lower channels for accepting the teeth of the upper and lower jaws, said side arms having a cross sectional form adapted to substantially occupy space between said teeth of said upper and lower jaws so as to provide a support for the jaws of the user, and said inner flange portion on the upper side of said arms being provided with a slot or cutaway region arranged at or adjacent the midline of said appliance to permit said arms to move towards and away from each other and thus allow said appliance to adjust laterally to fit the jaws of the user, and wherein said inner flange portion on the upper side of said arms is provided with a pair of spaced said slots or cutaway regions disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of the midline of the appliance to define therebetween a tab.

An oral appliance for orthodontic or orthopedic correction, said appliance including a base portion shaped so as to be locatable between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws of a user, and outer and inner flange portions along the leading and trailing edges of said base portion and extending to opposite sides thereof so as to form upper and lower channels for accepting the teeth of the upper and lower jaws and wherein said base portion has a cross sectional form adapted to substantially occupy space between said teeth of said upper and lower jaws so as to provide a support for the jaws of the user, said outer flange portion being provided with rib means on its inner surface on opposite sides of and spaced from said base portion, said rib means extending generally parallel to said base portion and adapted to in use engage the teeth of the user, said inner flange portion on the upper side of said base portion including a cut-away region or slot to allow for lateral adjustment of the appliance.

An oral appliance adapted for repositioning the temporomandibular joint, said appliance including a base portion, said base portion being of generally U-shaped plan form and including opposite side arms adapted for location between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws of a user, said side arms having leading and trailing edges, and outer and inner flange portions extending along the leading and trailing edges thereof and to opposite sides thereof so as to form upper and lower channels for accepting the teeth of the upper and lower jaws, said side arms having in longitudinal cross sectional, a form adapted to substantially occupy space between said teeth of said upper and lower jaws so as to provide a support for the jaws of the user, and said inner flange portion on the upper side of said arms being provided with a rearwardly extending tab arranged at the midline of said appliance, said tab providing an abutment for the tongue of the user whereby the tongue is encouraged or reminded to adopt a normal position.

An oral appliance formed of a flexible plastics material and having a U-shaped base portion and integrally formed inner and outer flanges which define with said base portion upper and lower U-shaped channels for receiving the teeth of the upper and lower jaws of a user, said inner flange having on its upper side a trailing edge and at least one slot extending inwardly from said trailing edge and arranged at or adjacent to the midline of said appliance, said slot permitting lateral adjustment said appliance whereby to permit variation of the width of said appliance to fit the jaws of a user.