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US 8,940,033 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for whitening teeth
AssigneeWhiten, LLC
InventorsJoe Dwyer, Kaya Bromley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for whitening teeth comprises a mouth tray comprising a horseshoe-shaped trough sized to accommodate a dental ridge. A planar projection extends from the outer side of the trough so that its far end is external of the mouth. A light box containing a plurality of LEDs couples with the external end of the projection and illuminates the projection end. The mouth tray and projection are formed of a light-transmissive material to irradiate a peroxide gel in the trough to whiten the user's teeth.
Claims13
A device useful for whitening teeth, comprising:
- a U-shaped mouth tray having a trough adapted to conform to a dental ridge comprising a substantially flat base and side walls extending substantially normally to said base, the trough being adapted to be disposed within a user's mouth with at least certain of the user's teeth within said trough;
- a generally flat projection lying in a plane parallel to the base of the trough and fixed to and extending from the outer side of the trough so that the end of the projection opposite the trough lies externally of the user's mouth when the user's teeth are disposed in the trough;
- both the trough and the projection being formed of a plastic substantially transparent to light of a predetermined wavelength;
- a light-generating box containing an illumination source for light including said predetermined wavelength;
- and
- complementary, separable coupling structures formed of plastic substantially transparent to light of said predetermined wavelength respectively formed on the external end of the projection lying externally of the user's mouth when the user's teeth are disposed in the trough and on the light-generating box whereby light of said predetermined wavelength generated by said illumination source passes through the flat projection and the trough and illuminates the user's teeth disposed in the trough, said complementary separable coupling structure on the external end of the flat projecting section being convex in a plane normal to the base and constituting the male member of the complementary coupling structure.
3 more elements
An apparatus useful in whitening teeth, comprising:
- a U-shaped trough adapted to conform to a dental ridge having a base and extending side walls from opposite sides of the base and adapted to be disposed in a user's mouth to accommodate a gel-like substance for whitening teeth and a ridge of the user's teeth;
- a generally flat projection joined to the outer side of the trough and adapted to project between the user's lips when the user's teeth are in the trough, the trough and the extension being formed of a plastic substantially transparent to light of a waveform which will accelerate curing of the gel;
- and
- a light box adapted to be disposed externally of the user's mouth and to illuminate the end of the projection opposite the end joined to the trough, the light box containing an illumination source for light of the wavelength adapted to accelerate action of the gel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.