阅读说明：本技术 壳状牙科器械及其制作方法 (Shell-shaped dental instrument and manufacturing method thereof ) 是由 艾婷婷 田杰 黄雷 于 2018-08-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请的一方面提供了一种壳状牙科器械,包括：壳状本体,为一体的壳状且形成容纳牙齿的空腔,其中,所述壳状本体是以第一材料制成；以及颌垫,设置于所述壳状本体至少一侧后牙区靠对颌的表面,其中,所述颌垫是以第二材料制成,所述第二材料比第一材料软。(One aspect of the present application provides a shell-like dental instrument comprising: a shell-shaped body which is an integrated shell and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth, wherein the shell-shaped body is made of a first material; and the jaw pad is arranged on the surface, close to the jaw, of the back tooth area on at least one side of the shell-shaped body, wherein the jaw pad is made of a second material, and the second material is softer than the first material.)

1. A shell-like dental instrument, comprising:

a shell-shaped body which is an integrated shell and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth, wherein the shell-shaped body is made of a first material; and

the jaw pad is arranged on the surface, close to the jaw, of the back tooth area on at least one side of the shell-shaped body, wherein the jaw pad is made of a second material, and the second material is softer than the first material.

2. A shell-like dental implement according to claim 1, wherein the first material is such that when the shell-like body deforms when worn on a patient's dentition, a force is generated which moves the teeth.

3. A shell-like dental instrument as in claim 2, wherein the cavity has a geometry that repositions the patient's teeth from a first configuration to a second configuration.

4. A shell-like dental implement according to claim 1, wherein the geometry of the cavity substantially conforms to the second configuration of the patient's teeth.

5. A shell-like dental instrument as in claim 1, wherein the jaw pad is formed by an additive process directly on the shell-like body.

6. A shell-like dental implement according to claim 1, wherein the second material has an elastic modulus of 5 to 3000MPa and an elongation at break of 50 to 1200%.

7. A shell-like dental implement according to claim 5, wherein the second material has an elastic modulus of 100 to 500MPa and an elongation at break of 200 to 1000%.

8. A shell-like dental implement according to claim 1, wherein the geometry of the jaw pad against the surface of the jaw is such that, upon occlusion, the jaw pad is pressed into contact with the cusps of the posterior teeth to be depressed by a greater amount than the rest of the jaw.

9. A shell-like dental instrument as in claim 8, wherein the jaw pad is flat against the surface of the jaw.

10. A shell-like dental instrument as in claim 9, wherein the surface of the jaw pad that abuts the jaw is approximately flat or curved.

11. A method of making a shell-like dental instrument, comprising:

obtaining a shell-shaped main body which is in an integral shell shape and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth, wherein the shell-shaped main body is made of a first material; and

the control device forms a jaw pad of a second material on a predetermined area of an outer surface of a posterior dental area of the shell-like body, wherein the second material is softer than the first material.

12. A shell-like dental instrument manufacturing method according to claim 11, further comprising:

acquiring position information of a jaw pad, which represents a position where the jaw pad is disposed on the shell-shaped body;

obtaining a three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad; and

and controlling the equipment to manufacture the jaw pad on the shell-shaped body by using the position information and the three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad.

13. A shell-like dental instrument fabrication method as in claim 11, wherein the apparatus is an additive manufacturing apparatus.

14. A shell-like dental instrument fabrication method according to claim 13, wherein the additive process is 3D printing.

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to shell-like dental instruments and methods of making the same, and more particularly to shell-like dental instruments having soft jaw pads and methods of making the same.

Background

Posterior teeth depression is a key means for solving the jaw-opening deformity in orthodontic treatment, but is difficult to realize by the conventional orthodontic technology. Shell-like dental instruments based on polymeric materials, such as shell appliances and shell-like retainers, are becoming increasingly popular because of their aesthetic, convenient and easy cleaning benefits. If the posterior teeth depression can be well realized while wearing the shell-shaped dental appliance, the method has great significance for orthodontic treatment.

Disclosure of Invention

One aspect of the present application provides a shell-like dental instrument comprising: a shell-shaped body which is an integrated shell and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth, wherein the shell-shaped body is made of a first material; and the jaw pad is arranged on the surface, close to the jaw, of the back tooth area on at least one side of the shell-shaped body, wherein the jaw pad is made of a second material, and the second material is softer than the first material. In one embodiment, the posterior teeth may include premolars and posterior molars, i.e., teeth 4-7.

In some embodiments, the first material is such that when the shell-like body deforms when worn on a patient's dentition, a force is generated that moves the teeth.

In some embodiments, the cavity has a geometry that repositions the patient's teeth from a first configuration to a second configuration.

In some embodiments, the geometry of the cavity substantially conforms to the second arrangement of the patient's teeth.

In some embodiments, the jaw pad is formed directly on the shell-like body in an additive process.

In some embodiments, the second material has an elastic modulus of 5 to 3000MPa and an elongation at break of 50 to 1200%.

In some embodiments, the second material has an elastic modulus of 100 to 500MPa and an elongation at break of 200 to 1000%.

In some embodiments, the geometry of the jaw pad against the surface of the jaw is such that, upon occlusion, the jaw pad is pressed into contact with the cusps of the posterior teeth to be depressed of the jaw by a greater amount than the remainder to enhance the effect of the posterior teeth depression.

In some embodiments, the surface of the jaw pad against the jaw is smooth, i.e., the surface is free of depressions.

In some embodiments, the jaw pad is approximately planar or curved against the surface of the jaw.

Yet another aspect of the present application provides a method of making a shell-like dental instrument, comprising: obtaining a shell-shaped main body which is in an integral shell shape and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth, wherein the shell-shaped main body is made of a first material; and a control device for making the jaw pad with a second material on a predetermined area of the outer surface of the posterior dental area of the shell-like body, wherein the second material is softer than the first material.

In some embodiments, the method of making a shell-like dental instrument further comprises: acquiring position information of a jaw pad, which represents a position where the jaw pad is disposed on the shell-shaped body; obtaining a three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad; and controlling the apparatus to fabricate the jaw pad on the shell-like body using the position information and the three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is an additive manufacturing apparatus.

In some embodiments, the additive process is 3D printing.

Drawings

The above and other features of the present application will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description thereof. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only several exemplary embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a shell-like dental implement according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the shell-like dental instrument of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the shell-like dental implement of FIG. 1 taken along A-A; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method of making a shell-like dental instrument according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. The exemplary embodiments mentioned in the description and the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that many other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present application. It should be understood that the aspects of the present application, as described and illustrated herein, may be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are within the scope of the present application.

Through a great deal of research and development work, the inventor of the application develops a shell-shaped dental appliance with a soft jaw pad, and the shell-shaped dental appliance can be worn while the posterior teeth are pressed down, so that the functions of the shell-shaped dental appliance are enriched, and the orthodontic appliance and the flow/operation are simplified.

Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of a shell-like dental instrument 100 in one embodiment of the present application, from a maxillofacial perspective. Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a shell-like dental instrument 100. Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view along a-a of the shell-like dental implement 100 shown in fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1-3, shell-like dental instrument 100 includes a shell-like body 101 and jaw pads 103 and 105. The shell-like body 101 is formed in an integral shell-like shape, and forms a cavity 107 for accommodating a tooth. Jaw pads 103 and 105 are respectively provided on the outer surfaces of the posterior teeth regions on both sides of the shell-like body 101.

In one embodiment, the shell-like dental appliance 100 may be an orthodontic appliance, and the cavity 107 has a geometry that repositions the patient's teeth from a first arrangement to a second arrangement. In one embodiment, the geometry of the cavity 107 may be based on the second layout of the patient's teeth.

In yet another embodiment, shell-like dental implement 100 may be a holder for holding a patient's current tooth layout, the geometry of which may substantially conform to the patient's current tooth layout.

The shell-like body 101 is made of a first material having material properties such that when the shell-like body 101 is deformed when worn on a patient's teeth, it can generate a spring force sufficient to move the teeth. In some embodiments, the first material may be PC (polycarbonate), PEG (polyethylene glycol), or TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane).

In one embodiment, shell-like body 101 may be formed by a thermoforming process, and the geometry of cavity 107 may substantially conform to the dental cast used to form shell-like body 101. In one embodiment, the dental cast used to make the shell-like body may be a dental cast of the second arrangement of the patient's teeth.

The jaw pads 103 and 105 are made of a second material different from the first material, the second material having greater elasticity and being softer than the first material. For example, the second material has an elastic modulus of 5 to 3000MPa and an elongation at break of 50 to 1200%. More preferably, the second material has an elastic modulus of 100 to 500MPa and an elongation at break of 200 to 1000%. The material properties of the jaw cushions 103 and 105 make the patient more comfortable to wear, while having a better effect of posterior teeth depression.

In some embodiments, the second material may be a thermoset elastomer, such as silicone rubber, thermoset polyurethane, silicone resin, and the like; the second material may also be a thermoplastic elastomer, such as Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), Polycarbonate (PC), and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), among others; the second material may also be a Light-cured elastomer (see materials disclosed by high purity Curable and UV Curable Elastomers for Digital Light Processing Based 3 dpring, published by Dinesh k. patel equal to 2017 at ADVANCED MATERIALS 1606000, and UV Light-cured silicone Elastomers, etc.).

In one embodiment, the thickness of each of the jaw pads 103 and 105 may be set according to the amount of depression required for the corresponding tooth.

In one embodiment, the geometry of the jaw pads 103 and 105 against the surface of the jaw is such that, when engaged, the jaw pads 103 and 105 are pressed into contact with the cusps of the posterior teeth to be depressed of the jaw by a greater amount than the rest. In one embodiment, the surfaces of the jaw pads 103 and 105 that face the jaw may be smooth, e.g., may be approximately flat or curved.

In yet another embodiment, the geometry of the surfaces of the jaw pads 103 and 105 that abut the jaw may substantially conform to the geometry of corresponding areas of the jaw (teeth or shell-like dental instruments) such that when engaged, the surfaces of the two may substantially conform.

In yet another embodiment, the geometry of the jaw pads 103 and 105 against the jaw surface may substantially conform to the geometry of the corresponding region of the shell-like body 101.

It will be appreciated in light of the present application that the shape of the jaw pads 103 and 105 are not limited to the above embodiments and may be configured according to particular circumstances and needs.

In one embodiment, the jaw pads 103 and 105 may be adhesively secured to the shell-like body 101.

In yet another embodiment, the jaw pads 103 and 105 may be secured to the shell-like body 101 by a snap or the like.

In yet another embodiment, the jaw pads 103 and 105 may be machined directly onto the shell-like body 101 in an additive process (e.g., 3D printing, photocuring, deposition, etc.).

According to different working principles, additive processes include, but are not limited to: polymer Printing technology (PolymerPrinting), Digital Lighting Processing (Digital Lighting Processing), Laser Stereolithography (Stereolithography, Objet and Formlabs are relatively representative suppliers), Micro Stereolithography (Micro Stereolithography), photocuring (scanning a liquid photosensitive resin surface with ultraviolet rays to form a thin layer of a certain thickness each time, and forming a part layer by layer from the bottom), Selective Laser Sintering (Sintering and molding by heating a powder with a high-power Laser, which is a relatively representative supplier from EOS corporation, Selective Laser Melting (Selective Laser Melting), Electron Beam Melting (Electron Beam 1 Me cutting), Three-Dimensional Printing (Three Dimensional Printing, which is similar to Selective Laser Sintering, except that the Laser Sintering process is changed to nozzle adhesion, and a raster scanner is changed to an adhesive nozzle, zcorp and Voxeljet are relatively representative suppliers), Fused deposition modeling (Fused deposition modeling, which uses a hot-melt nozzle to melt a plastic material, extrude the plastic material from the nozzle, and deposit the plastic material at a specific position for solidification, RepRap, MakerBot and Stratasys are relatively representative suppliers), aerosol printing (aerosol printing), spray molding, and the like.

A specific example of an ultraviolet Light curing process can be found in high throughput Curable and UV Curable Elastomers for digital Light Processing Based 3D Printing, published by Dinesh K.Patel, 2017 at ADVANCED MATERIALS 1606000.

In one embodiment, the bolsters 103 and 105 may be fabricated on a computer using a three-dimensional digital model control device of the bolsters 103 and 105.

The process of making a jaw pad based on several different additive processes is briefly described below.

When the jaw pad is processed by using a laser stereo printing technology (Stereolithography), ultraviolet laser can be controlled by a computer, and the outline of each layered section of the jaw pad is taken as a track to scan liquid resin point by point, so that a resin thin layer in a scanned area generates photopolymerization reaction, and a thin layer section of the jaw pad is formed. When one layer is cured, the workbench is moved, and a new layer of liquid resin is coated on the surface of the cured resin so as to carry out scanning curing on the next layer. The newly cured layer adheres firmly to the previous layer and so on until the entire jaw pad is completed.

When the jaw pad is processed by the spray forming technology, the spray gun can be controlled by a computer, and the gel mixed with the initiator and the accelerant is sprayed out of the spray gun and is uniformly deposited on the predetermined area on the surface of the shell-shaped body of the shell-shaped dental appliance. And (3) compacting by using a roller or other tools to remove air bubbles after the materials are deposited to a certain thickness, and finally standing until the materials are cured and formed to form the jaw pad.

The shell 101 can be formed by a hot-pressing molding process, which is well known in the art and will not be described herein.

Referring to FIG. 4, a schematic flow chart of a method 200 for fabricating a shell-shaped dental instrument according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

In 201, a shell-like body made of a first material is obtained.

The shell-shaped body is in an integrated shell shape and forms a cavity for accommodating teeth.

In one embodiment, the shell-like dental appliance is a shell-like appliance, the cavity of the shell-like body having a geometry that repositions the patient's teeth from a first configuration to a second configuration, the first material being such that when the shell-like body deforms while worn over the patient's dentition, a force is generated that moves the teeth.

At 203, position information of the jaw pad is acquired.

The position information of the jaw pad indicates the position where the jaw pad is disposed on the shell-like body.

In one embodiment, a three-dimensional digital model representing the shell-like body may be obtained and then the location and extent of placement of the jaw pad may be specified on the outer surface of the three-dimensional digital model representing the shell-like body using a computer. For the scheme of manufacturing the shell-shaped main body by the hot-pressing film forming process, the shell-shaped main body is obtained by hot-pressing film forming of a high polymer film material on a dental model. In one embodiment, the three-dimensional digital model representing the shell-like body may be obtained by first obtaining a three-dimensional digital model representing the dental model, taking its outer surface as the inner surface of the three-dimensional digital model representing the shell-like body, and combining the estimated thickness of the shell-like body to obtain the three-dimensional digital model representing the shell-like body.

In still another embodiment, the outer surface of the digital model representing the dental cast may be approximated as the outer surface of the shell-like body, and then the position and the range where the jaw pad is disposed may be specified on the outer surface of the three-dimensional digital model representing the dental cast using the computer.

At 205, a three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad is acquired.

In one embodiment, the parameters of the jaw pad, such as the geometry of the jaw pad against the jaw surface, the thickness of the jaw pad, etc., can be input into the computer, and then the geometry of the combined surface of the jaw pad and the shell-shaped body (i.e., the geometry of the corresponding area of the outer surface of the shell-shaped body) is combined to obtain the three-dimensional digital model representing the jaw pad.

At 207, the jaw pad is fabricated in a second material on the shell-like body using the jaw pad position information and a three-dimensional digital model control device representing the jaw pad, resulting in a shell-like dental instrument finished product.

Wherein the second material is softer than the first material.

While the above is an example of the use of a computer controlled device to automatically form a jaw pad on a shell-like body, it will be appreciated that the use of a manually controlled device to form a jaw pad on a shell-like body is also contemplated within the scope of the present application.

While various aspects and embodiments of the disclosure are disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting. The scope and spirit of the application are to be determined only by the claims appended hereto.

Likewise, the various diagrams may illustrate an exemplary architecture or other configuration of the disclosed methods and systems that is useful for understanding the features and functionality that may be included in the disclosed methods and systems. The claimed subject matter is not limited to the exemplary architectures or configurations shown, but rather, the desired features can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, to the extent that flow diagrams, functional descriptions, and method claims do not follow, the order in which the blocks are presented should not be limited to the various embodiments which perform the recited functions in the same order, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, the terms and phrases used herein, and variations thereof, are to be construed as open-ended as opposed to limiting. In some instances, the presence of an extensible term or phrases such as "one or more," "at least," "but not limited to," or other similar terms should not be construed as intended or required to imply a narrowing in instances where such extensible terms may not be present.