Patent Application
20210146225
The technical field generally relates to mouth guards, and particularly to a mouth guard adapted to comfortably protect a wearer's teeth and allow ease of placing and taking the mouth guard out of the wearer's mouth.
Studies have shown that strenuous exercise can affect the teeth. In particular, exercises like weightlifting can affect the health of the teeth. In such exercises, the natural response of the body is to clench down hard on the teeth when an individual lifts a heavy weight. This cycle is repeated over and over again when weight training which can subsequently lead to enamel on the teeth being worn down. At the same time, when lifting heavy weights, the individual will clench their jaws hard which forces the top of the lower jaw up and back, causing the disc within the joint to be pushed forward. Over time this can get exacerbated which can lead to headaches facial pain, tinnitus, neck pain, and shoulder pain among other things.
Many athletes commonly wear a mouthguard during their workouts. Mouth guards or mouth protectors provide protection against injuries to the teeth, lips, cheeks, and gums, and may also reduce the incidence of head and neck injuries, concussions, and jaw fractures. Generally, mouth protectors are fabricated to cover all teeth of the maxillary arch, except for the erupting third molars. To provide maximum protection, it is believed that the energy absorbed by the mouth protector must be dissipated by the protector, rather than transferred to the underlying tooth and jaw structure. Such mouth guards are substantially U-shaped and are molded from a moldable plastic precursor, either by molding the precursor to an impression or by softening the precursor by preheating the precursor and allowing the wearer to bite into the precursor to configure the mouth guard to the upper teeth. Such mouth guards include a channel defined by an interior side wall, an exterior side wall, and a bottom wall. Such conventional mouth guards are often uncomfortable and often interfere with speech of the wearer, thereby causing some wearers to remove the mouth guard often during use, for example at an athletic event.
Hence, there remains a need for an improved, convenient, and more comfortable mouthguard wherein the wearer's teeth are adequately protected during strenuous exercise.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides an improved, convenient, and more comfortable mouth guard wherein the wearer's teeth are adequately protected but where interference with speech and breathing are minimized. It is also the object of the present invention to provide a mouth guard which can be easily placed within the mouth and removed. It is also the object of the present invention to provide a mouth guard which may be worn around an individuals' neck when the user is not wearing the protective guard between the user's teeth and in the user's mouth.
The mouthguard, according to one or more non-limiting embodiments, may be designed as a weightlifter's weightlifting plate. Typically, a weight plate is a flat, heavy object, usually made of cast iron, that is used in combination with barbells and dumbbells to provide a bar with a desired total weight for the purpose pf physical exercise. Weight plates are typically round, although 12-sided and other polygonal varieties exist. In a preferred embodiment, the weightlifting plate styled mouth guard would be designed and made with existing mouthguard material that is also food-grade material. In this exemplary embodiment, the mouth guard would be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate. In alternate embodiments, multiple designs to resemble different weighted plates and colors may be used. The mouth guard would be constructed with food grade material used for mouthguard material. A necklace may be incorporated and coupled to the weight plate such that the weight plate may be worn around the individual's neck and would serve the dual purpose of ease of use and a jewelry fashion piece. The necklace may be looped through an opening in the weight plate shaped mouthguard. In an alternate embodiment, a loop may be coupled to the mouthguard and the necklace cord can be looped through the integrated loop.
The presently disclosed mouth guard according to one or more non-limiting embodiments is further described in the attached drawings and detailed description below.
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.
The term “comprises,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, among others, are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components.
The following description provides preferred exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention. The following description of the preferred exemplary embodiment will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention. It shall be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.
The presently disclosed mouthguard device enables a user to comfortably place the mouthguard device in the user's mouth and bite down upon the mouthguard in order to adequately protect the user's teeth during activities when the user grips down hard with the user's teeth, such as but not limited to weightlifting or other strenuous activity. The beneficial functionality of the mouthguard in the present disclosure in one or more non-limiting embodiments is to prevent dental injuries during strenuous exercises, and to provide ease of use where the mouthguard may be easily placed in the mouth and taken out. The mouthguard, as described herein in one or more non-limiting embodiments, may also be used as a fashion piece which may be worn around the neck with a necklace.
The mouthguard, as described in one or more non-limiting embodiments herein, would be designed as a weightlifter's weightlifting plate. Typically, a weight plate is a flat, heavy object, usually made of cast iron, that is used in combination with barbells to dumbbells to provide a bar with a desired total weight for the purpose pf physical exercise. Weight plates are typically round, although 8-sided, 12-sided, and other polygonal varieties exist. In a preferred embodiment, the weightlifting plate styled mouth guard would be designed and made with food grade material used in making a mouthguard. In this exemplary embodiment, the mouth guard would be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate. In alternate embodiments, multiple designs to resemble different weighted plates and colors may be used. The mouth guard would be constructed with mouthguard material. A necklace may be incorporated and coupled to the weight plate resembling mouthguard such that the weight plate resembling mouthguard may be worn around the individual's neck and would serve the dual purpose of ease of use as well as a jewelry fashion piece. The necklace may be looped through an opening in the weight plate shaped mouthguard. In an alternate embodiment, a loop may be coupled to the mouthguard through which the necklace may be looped through.
The presently disclosed device is generally designated for use in the mouth as a mouthguard to prevent dental injuries from grinding and/or clenching of teeth which may occur during strenuous exercises, such as weightlifting and hitting a boxing heavy weight bag among others. The mouthguard as described herein may be used in any type of sport or activity as desired by the user.
In a preferred embodiment, a bite-down plate forms the basis of the mouthguard for a user to place in the mouth and bite down upon. The bite-down plate is designed with a diameter and thickness to fit within the mouth and provides a protective surface for the teeth to grip and clench.
The bite-down plate may generally be circular in design in one non-limiting embodiment. Alternate embodiments of a mouthguard include a bite-down plate with a shape resembling an 8-sided plate, a 12-sided plate, and other polygonal shapes. In one exemplary embodiment, bite-down plate may be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate. Alternate embodiments may be designed to include other weighted plates such as and not limited to 2.5 lb, 5 lb, 10 lb, 12 lb, 15 lb, and 20 lb among others.
The mouthguard may also be comprised of an opening that traverses through a middle of the bite-down plate. Generally, an opening in a weightlifting plate is a functional feature that may be found in most weight plates, which essentially allows one end of a barbell to be inserted through. A preferred embodiment of the mouthguard may include an opening in the middle of the bite down plate that is circular. Alternate embodiment of a mouthguard may include openings with a shape such as and not limited to a square, a rectangle, a triangle, an oval, and a polygon (e.g. heptagonal, hexagonal, etc).
The mouthguard may also be comprised of additionally openings that traverse though the bite-down plate. The additional openings generally found along the perimeter of a weight plate are commonly referred to as a cut-out handle among others, and function to permit an individual to lift a weightlifting plate from these cut-out handles. The mouthguard of the present disclosure may be comprised of these cut-out handles along the perimeter of the bite-down plate to further resemble a weightlifting plate. The mouthguard may include any number of cut-out handles, including one, two, three, four or more cut-out handles in varying configurations.
As mentioned above, alternate mouthguard shapes may be used to resemble the various weightlifting plate shapes available. An example of an alternate mouthguard may be comprised of a bite-down plate shaped like a 12-sided weight plate, a middle circular opening, and three cut-out handle openings disposed along the outer circumference of the mouthguard, which is designed to resemble a weight plate with cut-out handles. Another example of an alternate mouthguard may be that of a bite-down plate shaped like a 12-sided weight plate, a middle circular opening, which has two cut-out handle openings along the outer circumference of the mouthguard. Alternative embodiments may include various weight plate shapes along with the cut-out handles, also included in varying numbers.
The bite-down plate may be fashioned from a food grade material used for making mouth guards. In a preferred embodiment, the mouthguard is fashioned from silicone or TPE. However, alternate materials may be chosen to fashion the mouthguard, including and not limited to poly (vinyl acetate-ethylene) copolymer clear thermoplastic, polyurethane, laminated thermoplastic, EVA copolymer, soft acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene (pEVA), and other elastomers.
The dimensions of the bite-down plate may vary. In general, the bite-down plate of the mouthguard may be sized to fit comfortably in the mouth with a diameter of 1 inch to 4 inches and the thickness may vary from 0.0125 inches to 1 inch. Multiple sizes with varying diameters and thickness may be included and may vary based on individual preferences.
The mouthguard may be used alone or may be attached to a necklace cord. The necklace cord may provide an option for the individual to wear the mouthguard around the neck. The necklace cord may include and not be limited to a jewelry metal or other material, a linked style chain, a cable chain, a color rope, a curb chain, and a marine chain, among others. The necklace cord may have any suitable form to attach and detach the necklace cord from the mouthguard. Length of the necklace cord may vary and include standard lengths such as and not limited to 10-14 inches, 16, inches, 18 inches, 20 inches, 22, inches, 24 inches, 28-38 inches, and 40 inches or longer among other. In the exemplary embodiment the necklace cord may be attached through the circular opening in the bite-down plate.
Alternate embodiments of the mouthguard, discussed above, also included and are not limited to the bite down plates with cut-out handles near the circumference of the bite down plate. In those alternate embodiments, the necklace cord may connect through either the middle circular opening or any of the cut-out handle openings. Alternate attachment means are within the spirit of the invention and not limited to the description in this disclosure.
In an alternate embodiment, a mouthguard may include an alternate attachment means for a necklace cord. Any of the disclosed mouthguards may also be designed with a loop through which the necklace cord may attach to the mouthguard. The mouthguard may be designed with the loop, whereby the loop is integrated to the outer edge of the circumference portion of the bite-down plate, which would allow the mouthguard to rest flat against the individual's body. Alternate embodiments of attachment means may include and not be limited to a clip that clips into the circular opening, cut-out handle openings, or other openings in the mouthguard. In this alternate embodiment of the attachment means, the clip may resemble a necklace clip or cord clip among others.
Referring now to
Alternate embodiments may include a mouthguard with a shape resembling a 12-sided plate or other polygonal shapes. In one exemplary embodiment, bite-down plate 105 may be designed to resemble a 451b weight plate. Mouthguard 100, as shown in
Mouthguard 100 may have an opening 110 that traverses through the middle of the bite-down plate 105. In a preferred embodiment shown in
Referring to
In an alternate embodiment, as shown in
Individuals may have the ability to design their own mouthguard, such as mouthguards 100-400 shown in
Accordingly, the present description provides one or more embodiments for a useful, improved, easy to use mouthguard that is designed to be comfortable and not inhibit speech and breathing. The mouthguard, as described in one or more non-limiting embodiments herein, is designed to be used during strenuous exercises (e.g. such as weightlifting or other similar strenuous activities) where the individual may bite down on the mouthguard while exerting oneself and prevent dental injuries and other problems associated with grinding the teeth during exertion. Many other benefits and advantages are provided with the described mouthguard.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The present invention according to one or more embodiments described in the present description may be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Thus, the description is to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive of the present invention.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/938,226 filed on Nov. 20, 2019, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62938226 | Nov 2019 | US |
