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US 7,357,637 B2Granted
Dental appliance
AssigneeSnap On Smile LLC
InventorM. Marc Liechtung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An appliance fabricated to improve the appearance of a patient's smile includes a plurality of simulated teeth. The interior surfaces of each of the teeth closely fits and conforms to the surface of a patient's real teeth while the outer surfaces of each of the simulated teeth has an ideal surface configuration. The dental appliance provides the patient with the appearance of a perfect set of teeth and an ideal smile without a need to alter the dental structure of the patient's teeth.
Claims9
A dental appliance for improving appearance of a patient's teeth, comprising:
- a continuous wall that engages facial and lingual surfaces of the patient's teeth and provides a desired visual impression including a selected color and a selected contour, the wall comprising:
- an inner surface adapted to engage with the facial and lingual surfaces of the patient's teeth;
- and
- an outer surface comprising a tongue side arch and a visible cheek side arch, each of the arches extending from a first posterior location to an anterior portion and then to a second posterior location;
- and
- a plurality of retentive points for securing the dental appliance to the patient's teeth, the retentive points being supra gingivital;
- wherein thickness of the wall between the inner and outer surfaces on the cheek side arch progressively increases toward the first and second posterior locations relative to the anterior location, thereby achieving the desired visual impression.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.