Patent Application
20080108007
The present invention relates to cosmetic dental device. Particularly, the present invention relates to a removable cosmetic dental device that is worn for ornamental purpose and does not simulate the appearance of an actual human teeth and gum.
It has become popular in the hip hop culture that a cosmetic dental apparatus featuring metal caps wherein the metal can be silver, gold or platinum and the caps are capable of receiving jewelry such as diamond or crystals. The cosmetic dental apparatus is worn over and cover actual human teeth and gum. The cosmetic dental metal apparatus is worn to reflect a symbol of their wealth and success. Cosmetic dental apparatus is also often referred to as grills, fronts, golds, plates, gold grills, shines, caps, slugs, or pullouts.
The cosmetic dental apparatus can be removable similar to a denture or an orthodontic retainer. Although cosmetic dental apparatus does not simulate the appearance of an actual human teeth and gum, it can be worn as a removable device to cover up missing teeth. While cosmetic dental apparatus is often made of metal, it may also be made of non-metal material including acrylic polymers commonly used in a denture or an orthodontic retainer.
In addition to being a removable device, the cosmetic dental apparatus can also be semi-affixed, similar to how a retainer is affixed to human teeth. For the purpose of this application, removable cosmetic dental apparatus will be discusses.
A simplified method to wear the cosmetic dental apparatus is needed. In addition, a low cost method of producing the cosmetic dental apparatus including the material used, to lower the cost of each product is also warranted.
It is an objective to provide a method that a wearer can easily wear the apparatus.
It is another objective to lower the manufacturing cost by using as less material as possible.
It is another objective to provide a method wherein the wearer can wear the cosmetic dental apparatus comfortably.
Various embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an,” “one,” or “various” embodiments in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
An apparatus for ornamental purpose and does not simulate the appearance of an actual human teeth and gum and a method of wearing the cosmetic dental apparatus are described. A person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art, upon reading the present disclosure, will recognize that various novel aspects and features of the present invention can implemented independently or in any suitable combination, and further, that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative and not meant to be limiting.
Referring to
In one embodiment of the invention, the outer portion 120 includes a front section 104 and a top section 105. The front section 104 is capable of receiving a second type of material so that the second type of material may be set or inserted on the front section 104. The second type of material may be of any type material commonly used in connection with jewelry makings. For example, gold, silver, diamond, gemstones, for pearl. It is to be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art may choose any material other than those described above to be inserted on the front section 104.
The top section 105 is shaped in a way to include a plurality of raised curves and valleys 107. The shapes of the plurality of raised curvature are designed to resemble of juncture where a tooth and gum meet. This area is often referred to as the cervical area of the marginal gingival. When the device 110 is worn by a wearer, each raised curve covers substantially a tooth. Depending on the number of the raised curves in a particular cosmetic dental apparatus, the number of teeth covered may very.
In a human mouth, the gap between two teeth where covered by gum is referred to as the papilla area. For example, in between two upper front teeth of a person, this papilla area has the shape of an upside down triangle. This area is also referred to as the embrasure. Referring to
The inner portion 125 includes multiple clips. In one embodiment of the invention, the device 105 includes at least one clip. The number of the maximum clips depends on the entire width of the device and how many teeth the device 110 is covering. For example, if the device 110 is covering merely two teeth, then there may not be sufficient space for additional clip. In this example, the device 110 may include only one clip. The primary function of the clip is to provide back support for the outer portion 120 so that when a wearer wears the device 110, the clip or a plurality of clips may be adjusted to minimize the space between the clip or clips and the outer portion 120 to sandwich the teeth between the inner portion 125 and the outer portion 120.
In another embodiment of the invention, the device 110 includes at most three clips. Clips 101, 102, and 103, showed in
Yet in another embodiment of the invention, there are no clips.
Now referring to
Clips 201, 202, and 203 may be adjusted by bending the clips forward and backwards relative to the outer portion 221. For example, to make the fitting space smaller, the wearer may bend the clips 201, 202 and 203 forward or towards the outer portion 221 to decrease the space or the gap between the outer portion 221 and the inner portion 220. In another example, to make the fitting space larger, the wearer may bend the clips 201, 202 and 203 backwards or away from the outer portion 221 to increase the space or the gap between the outer portion 221 and the inner portion 220.
A person in the ordinary skill of pertinent art may appreciate that not all the clips are bend equally to provide equal spacing. In one embodiment of the invention, the space or the gap between clip 201 and the outer portion 221, and between clip 201 and the outer portion 221 may be smaller where as the space or the gap between clip 202 and the outer portion 221 may be larger or bigger. This method of shaping may be necessary to fit the device 110 to the particular shape of the teeth of a wearer.
When adjusting clips 201, 202 and 203, these clips remain substantially parallel to the outer portion 221. That is, clips 201, 202 and 203 are sufficiently durable so that the wearer is prohibited from twisting the clips. If the clips are twisted, the twisted clips create an uneven surface and when the wearer wears the device, it creates discomfort. Twisting the clips should be avoided.
The height of the outer portion 221 and inner portion 220 are such that preferably the height of the inner portion 220 is less than half of height of the outer portion 221. Because the primary purpose of the inner portion 220 including at least one clip is to provide support of the outer portion 221, the height of the inner portion 220 may be as small as 2 mm so long the clip is long enough to clip onto the teeth of the wearer.
In addition to the cost efficient advantage because less material is required to produce the device 110, it is safer for the wearer if the height of a clip is less than half of the height of the outer portion 221. This is based on the observation that the height of the back side of a human tooth is generally shorter that the front of the tooth. If the height or the length of the clips is too long, the clips will create a constant irritation to the wearer's gum and may cause health related issues. Therefore, by ensuring that the height of a clip is less than half of the height of the outer portion 221, the clips are not likely to touch the inner gum area when the wearer wears the device.
There are several methods to ensure that when bending or adjusting the clips, the force of a wearer is applied to bending or adjusting the clips forward and backwards, rather than twisting the clips. One of these methods is to ensure that the width of the clips is sufficiently wide. Referring to
Another method to ensure the clips are not likely to be twisted when force is applied by the wearer to bend or adjust the clips is having the bottom portion of the clip, section 265 be at least equal width as the upper portion of the clip, section 266.
Another method to ensure the he clips are not likely to be twisted when force is applied by the wearer to bend or adjust the clips is having the bottom portion of the clip, section 265 made of different material than the upper portion of the clip, section 266. The material used in the bottom is preferably softer than the upper portion of the clip.
Referring to
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The type of catalyst 405 and cross-linking agent or base 401 may be any material used in the dentistry to make imprints. An example of such mixture and fitting method maybe described in U.S. Pat. No., 5,951,291 issued to Albert et al.
Silicones are synthetic polymers made from the products of nature. Although “silicone” is often used as a generic term for nearly all substances that contain a silicon atom, it is more properly described as an entirely synthetic polymer containing a Si—O backbone. To this backbone, organic groups are frequently attached to the silicon atoms via a Si—C bond.
In this embodiment, after an imprint is made, the silicon may not be recurred again to produce a different fitting. This type of fitting method may be preferred to provide custom fitting and to avoid use by different wearers.
Furthermore, the silicon material employed should generally be recognized as safe for use in food or food packaging. According to 21 C.F.R., material that may be used which is safe to the wearer may include, but not limited to, silicone (Si) elastomers containing methyl groups, Silicone (Psi) elastomers containing methyl and phenyl groups, Silicone (Vsi) elastomers containing methyl and vinyl groups, Silicone (Fsi) elastomers containing methyl and fluorine groups, Silicone (PVsi) elastomers containing phenyl, methyl, and vinyl groups.
Referring to
The silicone material employed in this example to provide adhesive is preferably a reusable silicone. The silicon material maybe cured to provide sufficient adhesion for the device and the wearer's mouth and yet the material maybe uncured so the device may be removed from the wearer's mouth.
Before the uncured silicon material is hardened, the device that includes the uncured silicon material may be placed into the wearer's mouth. The uncured silicon provides a temporary bonding between the device and the wearer's mouth. The temperature inside a wearer's mouth may keep the silicon material from completely cure or harden.
The device including the uncured silicon material maybe removed from the wearer's mouth by physically pulling the device out of the wearer's mouth. The amount of force applied to such removal procedure should be sufficient to remove the device but not to exceed where the removal procedure will cause temporarily or permanently physically and bodily injury to a wearer's mouth and teeth. An example of this material is Ethylene.
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Although the invention has been described in detail hereinabove, it should be appreciated that many variations and/or modifications and/or alternative embodiments of the basic inventive concepts taught herein that may appear to those skilled in the pertinent art will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
