MOUTH GUARD

Abstract

The invention relates to a teeth protector device (1) consisting of a rail which has a U shape or a channel shape in the cross-section, is adapted to a toothed jaw (5) of a user, and is made of a deep-drawn plastic. The rail has two plastic films (3, 4) which are laminated onto each other and between which an insert (2) is located, said insert being provided in a central front region and having a lateral extension which corresponds to multiple teeth of the user and has a width that corresponds to the distance from an approximately coverable teeth tip region to the gums. The insert (2) is a molded part made of light- or laser-cured plastic using a 3D printer.

Claims

1. A mouth guard comprising: a generally U-section channel-forming bar of thermoplastic plastic shaped to the dentate jaw of a user, the bar being formed by two plastic layers laminated onto opposite sides of an insert in a central front region of the dentition of the user, extending laterally over multiple teeth of the user, and having a width that corresponds to a distance from a region approximately covering tooth tips to the gingivae, the insert being a molded part of light- or laser-curing plastic produced by a 3D printer, a thickness of the molded part being varied and/or a dimension of the molded part parallel or transverse to the teeth being increased.

2. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the insert is a molded part of acrylate, methacrylate, epoxide, vinyl ether, vinyl ester, styrene derivative, thiolene system, or mixtures thereof.

3. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the molded part contains dye.

4. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the plastic layers are transparent.

5. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the insert is of a material of a different hardness from a material of the layers.

6. The guard according to claim 5, wherein the insert has a hardness between 35 and 90 Shore A.

7. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the insert has a lateral extension that corresponds to more than a width of six teeth.

8. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the insert is between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.

9. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the plastic layers are at least partially opaque.

10. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the insert has voids, depressions, or perforations.

11. The guard according to claim 10, wherein the voids, depressions, and/or perforations are not filled by the material of the plastic layers.

12. The guard according to claim 10, wherein at least some of the voids, depressions, or perforations are filled with gel.

13. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the plastic layers project over the insert on all edges and the plastic layers in the projecting region rest directly against and are laminated on each other.

14. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the insert has at least one predetermined breaking point transverse to its longitudinal extension.

15. The guard according to wherein the insert is of X-ray opaque.

16. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the inner plastic layer that is against the dentate jaw has a shape that fits to a shape of the jaw and teeth, that the insert has the same shape on the side facing toward the inner plastic layer and adjoining same, and that the outer plastic layer over the insert is laminated on its side that adjoins this insert and against the projecting part over the inner plastic layer region adjoining same so as to follow the shape of the outside of the insert and an outer contact surface of the inner plastic layer.

17. The guard according to claim 1, wherein the plastic layers are securely interconnected in the regions that directly engage each other and the molded part is positioned between the plastic layers but held so as to be slightly movable with no bond thereto.

18. A method of making a fine mouth guard comprising the steps of: forming a negative mold of a dentate jaw by an impression with the aid of an impression compound, filling the negative mold with a pourable, curable compound, thereby producing a positive model of the dentate jaw that is then cured, laying an inner thermoplastic layer onto the positive model then heating and molding the laid-on inner later onto the positive model by vacuum or overpressure, so that the contours of the dentate jaw are formed, acquiring shape data in the region onto which an insert is to be placed, by a scanner from the surface of the inner thermoplastic layer reshaped in this manner and still being held by the positive model and storing data the scanned shape data in a data logger/memory, making a 3D molded part by a generative process through printing using data retrieved from the data-storage unit; placing the 3D molded part produced in this manner as an insert onto the inner deep-drawn thermoplastic layer on the positive model, laying an outer thermoplastic layer over the insert and the region of the inner thermoplastic layer that projects past the insert in every direction and heating and shaping the outer layer by vacuum or overpressure to form a finished mouth guard, and cooling the finished mouth guard and separating it from the positive model.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein air is used as a medium for molding by vacuum or overpressure.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the inner thermoplastic layer and the outer thermoplastic layer are securely and permanently laminated together where the two layers directly engage each other by the vacuum or the overpressure without bonding the material of the thermoplastic layers to the material of the insert.

Description

[0045] A schematic embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing and described in further detail below. In the drawing:

[0046] FIG. 1 is a view of a complete mouth guard;

[0047] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of parts of the mouth guard according to the invention;

[0048] FIG. 3 shows a detail of the mouth guard; and

[0049] FIG. 4 is a view where the parts of FIG. 2 are joined together.

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a complete mouth guard 1. It consists of a bar of thermoplastic plastic, particularly EVA, and approximately of U-section and shaped to fit over the dentition of a dentate jaw. The bar has two plastic layers that are laminated onto each other on opposite sides of an insert 2. The insert 2 has a length corresponding to a plurality of teeth of the dentate jaw and is preferably provided in a central front region of the dentate jaw facing away from the user's palate. Its width corresponds approximately to the projection of the teeth from the gingivae.

[0051] The insert 2 is a molded part of light- or laser-curing plastic and produced by a 3D printer. Such an insert 2 can consist of the same material with the same hardness throughout. However, it can also consist of material of a different hardness, so that the insert 2 has a greater hardness in the middle region than in the end regions, for example. The thickness of the insert 2 can be between 0.5 mm and 5 mm, for example, and vary over the longitudinal and vertical extension. In the finished mouth guard according to FIG. 1, the plastic layers project over the insert 2 (that is no longer visible there) on all edges, the plastic layers lying directly on top of each other in the projecting region and being laminated onto each other, thereby achieving secure and solid seating and a secure interconnection of the parts.

[0052] The inner plastic layer 3 lying closest to the teeth has a shape that fits to a shape of the jaw and teeth. The insert 2 has the same shape on its side facing toward the inner plastic layer 3 and on the side resting against same. The outer plastic layer 4 that covers the insert 2 has correspondingly adapted shapes on its side resting against the insert 2 and in the projecting region on the side resting against the inner plastic layer 3, these shapes being produced by the thermoplastic process. A laminar, flush abutment of the parts against each other is this achieved and ensured. The plastic layers 1, 3 [3, 4] are securely interconnected where they lie directly on each other. The plastic layers 3, 4 project on all edges over the molded part 2 that is between the plastic layers 3, 4 but not bonded thereto.

[0053] To produce such a mouth guard 1, a negative mold of a dentate jaw is first formed by an impression with the aid of an impression compound. This negative mold is filled with a pourable, curable compound, thus producing a positive model 5 of the dentate jaw. During the production process, the inner thermoplastic layer 3 is laid on the positive model 5, heated, and molded to the positive model, preferably by a vacuum as shown in the lower region in FIG. 2. The contours of the dentate jaw are reproduced in the layer. A scanner is used to detect the shape and similar essential data from the surface of the inner thermoplastic layer 3 reshaped in this manner, which is preferably still held by the positive model 5, and transferred to a data-storage unit. Additional data, for example regarding the thickness of the insert, are inputted into the data-storage unit. The molded part 2 is produced by a generative process using a 3D printer into which the data are read and processed for the purpose of production. The 3D molded part 2 produced in this manner is placed as an insert 2 onto the inner thermoplastic layer 3 on the positive model 5. The outer thermoplastic layer is laid on the insert 2 with the inner thermoplastic layer 3 projecting past the insert 2 in every direction, and then heated and molded, preferably by a vacuum. This results in a product as shown in FIG. 1.

[0054] The invention is not limited to the embodiment, but rather can be varied in many respects within the framework of the disclosure.

[0055] All of the novel individual and combined features disclosed in the description and/or drawing are regarded as being essential to the invention.