A dental veneer made from a composite comprising at least one organic binder, preferably with methacrylate, and inorganic solid particles as fillers. Methods for manufacturing the dental veneer include curing the composite with heat and light under pressure followed by laser treating the facial surface of the veneer to form a smoother facial surface. Filler particles at the facial surface of the veneer can be melted and/or coalesced together to form a continuous glass surface, which is more natural looking and better resembles natural tooth material as compared to ceramic veneers or other composited veneers lacking surface treatment.

An apparatus for making dental splints has a model plate forming a plurality of model-placement areas each having an upper face adapted to support a respective dental model and a lower face. Each area is formed with an opening between the respective faces, and respective conduits are connected to the lower faces of the areas at the openings. A rack for holding a thermoshapable film is movable between a position spaced from the plate and a position over the plate with the film engaging an outer edge of the plate all around the placement areas atop the plate over the models thereon. A pump or the like generates a subatmospheric pressure and applies it via the conduits to the placement areas to draw the film down over the models.

Various methods and apparatus for processing audio signals are disclosed herein. The assembly may be attached, adhered, or otherwise embedded into or upon a removable oral appliance to form a hearing aid assembly. Such an oral appliance may be a custom-made device which can enhance and/or optimize received audio signals for vibrational conduction to the user. Received audio signals may be processed to cancel acoustic echo such that undesired sounds received by one or more intra-buccal and/or extra-buccal microphones are eliminated or mitigated. Additionally, a multiband actuation system may be used where two or more transducers each deliver sounds within certain frequencies. Also, the assembly may also utilize the sensation of directionality via the conducted vibrations to emulate directional perception of audio signals received by the user. Another feature may include the ability to vibrationally conduct ancillary audio signals to the user along with primary audio signals.

An apparatus for treating a tooth or gum tissue is disclosed. The apparatus can include a tooth cap for supporting a treatment device during a treatment procedure. The tooth cap can comprise a platform to support the treatment device. The platform can include an access port to provide a portion of the treatment device with access to a treatment region of the tooth or gum tissue. The tooth cap can also include a wall coupled with and angled relative to the platform, the wall configured to be attached to the tooth or gum tissue during treatment.

A method of automatically producing or reproducing a customized AGP (Anterior Guidance Package) equipped splint for a patient with or without a severe malocclusion is provided. The method of automatically producing or reproducing an AGP equipped splint according to current invention comprises of combining Virtual Articulation, CAD (Computer Aided Design)-CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) method with AGP and special retentive piece technology. The method of the current invention enables a patient with or without a severe malocclusion to receive his/her customized AGP equipped splint or a replacement thereof automatically without visiting the dentist again and again.

A snoring prevention device prevents apnea symptoms and the like caused by snor-ing when a patient with severe snoring problem is sleeping, by using a dental guard having an upper jaw guard and a lower jaw guard so as to correct the upper jaw and lower jaw positions of the patient in order to prevent snoring during sleeping and specifically, the upper jaw guard and the lower jaw guard having a good comfortable fit, and an orthodontic state in which the upper jaw and the lower jaw of a patient from being artificially closed is avoided without applying an excessive force to a jaw joint such that sleep apnea and snoring can be prevented while enabling natural opening of the mouth.

An intra-oral simultaneous bilateral inter arch isolation appliance features a generally W-shaped body having first and second cheek retractor wings, and first and second transitions respectively joining the cheek retractor wings to a tongue crib of generally U-shaped configuration with an open posterior end. In a patient worn position, each cheek retractor wing runs buccally along a respective half of a patient's dental arches to retract and isolate buccal mucosa, while the transitions curve posteriorly around the rear molars between the maxillary tuberosity and retromolar pad to carry the tongue crib inside the dental arches, where it shields and isolates the tongue. Commissure cradles at anterior ends of the cheek retractor wings hook around the patient's oral commissures at terminal ends of the appliance. Inner passageways within the body accommodate fluid extraction and/or light transmission through the appliance.

Endodontic instruments are used to clean and enlarge the endodontic cavity space (ECS), also known as the root canal system, of a human tooth. This document describes novel endodontic instruments that are radially compressible, and methods for their use. Some embodiments include a shank and a body with a working surface. At least a portion of the working surface may define a center of mass path that spirals. The center of mass of a transverse cross-section of the working surface at the shank end can be offset from the axis of rotation of the instrument.

A jaw support is provided that includes a chest engaging member provided to rest on an upper area of the chest of a user below the jaw, a jaw support member connected to the chest engaging member and a neck support extending around a rear side of the neck of the user. The chest engaging member and the jaw support member comprise U-shaped first and second elongate members, respectively. The jaw support member is pivotable between a first position, in which it is adjacent the chest engaging portion, and a second position, in which it moves away from the chest engaging member to support the chin. The first and second elongate members each comprise flat elongate members having corresponding shapes.

A device includes a mounting platform selected from an eyeglass frame, a visor, a hat, a headlamp strap, a spectrally tunable lighting module adjustably mounted to the mounting platform and configured to illuminate an area based on one or more predetermined lighting commands, adjust one or more spectral characteristics of light emitted by an LED module of the head-mounted device in response to receiving the one or more predetermined lighting commands, wherein the LED module includes a plurality of LEDs selected from the group consisting of cool white LEDs, warm white LEDs, red LED, green LED, blue LED, and combinations thereof, and a hands-free interface that communicates the one or more predetermined lighting commands for one or more procedures to be performed to the head-mounted device. A system and computer program for use with the device are disclosed.