Patent Application
20220023005
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The disclosure relates to covering devices and more particularly pertains to a new covering device for shielding an orthodontic appliance from view and for mimicking a set of teeth.
The prior art relates to covering devices for orthodontic appliances. The prior art does not teach the base features of the invention.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shell, which has a plurality of cavities positioned therein. Each cavity is complementary to at least one of a tooth and a portion of an orthodontic appliance. The shell has a first face, which open and configured for insertion of a set of teeth having the orthodontic appliance engaged thereto. Each cavity has an associated at least one of a tooth and a portion of an orthodontic appliance positioned therein.
A plurality of protrusions is engaged to and extends from a front face of the shell. The plurality of protrusions is shaped complementarily to the set of teeth. The protrusions are substantially opaque and white and thus are configured to mimic the set of teeth and to shield both the set of teeth the orthodontic appliance from view.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The shell 12 has a first face 16, which is open and thus configured for insertion of a set of teeth having the orthodontic appliance engaged thereto. Each cavity 14 has an associated at least one of a tooth and a portion of an orthodontic appliance positioned therein. The plurality of cavities 14 may comprise a slot 18, which extends from proximate to opposed ends 20 of the shell 12. The slot 18 is configured for insertion of a wire of a set of braces that is engaged to the set of teeth.
The shell 12 is substantially transparent and comprises at least one of plastic and rubber, which should be interpreted to mean only plastic, only rubber, or a combination thereof.
The shell 12 may be one of a pair of shells 12. The first face 16 of one of the shells 12 is configured for insertion of a set of upper teeth and the first face 16 of the other of the shells 12 is configured for insertion of a set of lower teeth.
A second face 22 of the shell 12 may have a plurality of apertures 24 positioned therein, as shown in
A plurality of protrusions 26 is engaged to and extends from a front face 28 of the shell 12. The plurality of protrusions 26 is shaped complementarily to the set of teeth. The protrusions 26 are substantially opaque and white and thus are configured to mimic the set of teeth and to shield both the set of teeth the orthodontic appliance from view. Each protrusion 26 may have an associated cavity 14 extending thereinto.
The protrusions 26 of the plurality of protrusions 26 is positioned on the shell 12 so as to represent a positioning of the set of teeth upon completion of a realignment effected by the orthodontic appliance.
In one embodiment, as shown in
In use, the shell 12 is positioned over a set of teeth and an orthodontic appliance. The protrusions 26 on the front face 28 of the shell 12 shield the set of teeth and the orthodontic appliance from view, while also mimicking the set of teeth in their ultimate, aligned, position post treatment.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the elements is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
