Wired tooth whitening device and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of tooth whitening, in particular to a wired tooth whitening device and a manufacturing method thereof. The device comprises a denture, an electrolytic medium and an electrode, the electrolytic medium and the electrode are arranged in the denture, the electrode is connected with the electrolytic medium, and the electrode is used for being connected with a power source in the denture or an external power source through a wire. The electrolytic medium is used for wrapping around teeth and generating free radicals for whitening the teeth when being electrified. According to the scheme, the electrolytic medium and the electrode are arranged in the denture, and the electrode is connected with the power supply in the denture or the external power supply through the wire, so that the current can be generated by utilizing the power supply and then is transmitted to the electrode, and the electrode discharges the electrolytic medium, so that the electrolytic medium generates free radicals for whitening teeth when being electrified. Therefore, according to the technical scheme, tooth whitening of the patient can be facilitated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of teeth whitening, and in particular to a highly wired teeth whitening device and a manufacturing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Modern people have an increasing demand for teeth whitening, and related teeth whitening technologies can no longer fully meet modern people's needs for efficiency, safety, and convenience.

[0003] In the related art, teeth whitening technology can be roughly divided into home whitening and clinic whitening. However, the related teeth whitening technology has the problem of cumbersome whitening process.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a wired teeth whitening device and a manufacturing method thereof to solve the above technical problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] The invention provides a wired teeth whitening device and a manufacturing method thereof, which can facilitate teeth whitening for patients.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a wired teeth whitening device, comprising a tooth tray and an electrolyte medium and an electrode arranged inside the tooth tray, wherein the electrode is connected to the electrolyte medium, and the electrode is used to be connected to a power source inside the tooth tray or an external power source through a wire, and the electrolyte medium is used to wrap around the teeth and generate free radicals for whitening the teeth when power is supplied.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a wired teeth whitening device, which is applied to the above-mentioned wired teeth whitening device, comprising:

[0008] Obtain patient dentition information;

[0009] Based on the dentition information, a dental tray is made;

[0010] The pre-prepared electrodes are loaded into the dental tray to obtain a wired teeth whitening device; wherein, when the electrolyte medium is an electrolyte, after the patient wears the wired teeth whitening device, the electrolyte is injected into the dental tray through the electrolyte injection channel and the electrolyte removal channel reserved in the dental tray.

[0011] Beneficial effects:

[0012] According to the wired teeth whitening device and its manufacturing method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, an electrolytic medium and an electrode are arranged inside the dental tray, and the electrode is connected to the power supply inside the dental tray or an external power supply through a wire, so that the power supply can generate current and then transmit it to the electrode, so that the electrolyte medium is discharged through the electrode so that the electrolyte medium generates free radicals for whitening teeth when powered on. Therefore, the above technical solution can facilitate the teeth whitening of patients. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required to be produced in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0014] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a wired teeth whitening device provided in an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0015] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a wired teeth whitening device provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0016] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing the teeth whitening conditions at different bleaching times using the wired teeth whitening device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 4 A flow chart of a method for manufacturing a wired teeth whitening device provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0018] Reference numerals:

[0019] 1- dental tray; 2- electrode; 3- injection channel; 4- removal channel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] like Figure 1As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a wired teeth whitening device, including a dental tray 1 and an electrolytic medium (not shown in the figure) and an electrode 2 arranged inside the dental tray 1, wherein the electrode 2 is connected to the electrolytic medium, and the electrode 2 is used to be connected to a power source inside the dental tray 1 or an external power source (not shown in the figure) through a wire (not shown in the figure), and the electrolytic medium is used to wrap around the teeth and generate free radicals for whitening the teeth when powered on.

[0022] In this embodiment, an electrolytic medium and an electrode 2 are arranged inside the dental tray 1, and the electrode 2 is connected to a power source inside the dental tray 1 or an external power source through a wire, so that the power source can generate current and transmit it to the electrode 2, so that the electrolytic medium is discharged through the electrode 2, so that the electrolytic medium generates free radicals for whitening teeth when powered on. Therefore, the above technical solution can facilitate the whitening of patients' teeth.

[0023] like Figure 2 As shown, the whitening principle of the wired teeth whitening device provided by the embodiment of the present invention is: when powered, the anode of the special working electrode can catalyze water molecules, sulfate ions, chloride ions and other anions to generate hydroxyl radicals, chlorine-containing radicals or sulfate radicals, etc. On the cathode side, a small amount of oxygen and water molecules are catalyzed to generate hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide. These free radicals and hydrogen peroxide can react with the staining macromolecules on the surface of the teeth, decomposing them into small molecules such as carbon dioxide and water molecules, thereby achieving teeth whitening.

[0024] In one embodiment of the present invention, the dental tray 1 is made by 3D printing or molding. For example, the dental tray 1 can be made of silicone material. Before making the dental tray 1, it is necessary to obtain three-dimensional information of the dentition, for example, by using oral scanning or CBCT imaging scanning.

[0025] Considering that free radicals are generated during the electrolytic whitening process and may damage the dental tray, in one embodiment of the present invention, an inert coating (not shown in the figure) is provided on the inner surface of the dental tray 1 to prevent free radicals from damaging the dental tray 1.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present invention, the inert coating is a polytetrafluoroethylene coating. Of course, the inert coating can also be other coatings, which are not specifically limited herein.

[0027] In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte medium is an electrolyte, and the dental tray 1 is provided with an injection channel 3 and a removal channel 3 for the electrolyte to enter and exit, and the channels can also discharge a small amount of gas generated during the electrolysis process. Of course, the electrolyte medium can also be a conductive hydrogel.

[0028] It should be noted that when the electrolyte medium is an electrolyte, the gap between the mouthpiece and the teeth needs to be very small, which means that the mouthpiece must be customized. When the electrolyte medium is a conductive hydrogel, there is no need to consider customizing the mouthpiece, that is, a limited number of mouthpieces can be produced for the public. This is because if the electrolyte is used as the electrolyte medium, in actual oral application, it is difficult to maintain the liquid electrolyte around the teeth, and leakage is likely to occur, which may have adverse effects on other soft tissues in the oral cavity. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how to reduce the leakage of the electrolyte.

[0029] In order to solve this technical problem, in one embodiment of the present invention, the electrolyte medium is a conductive hydrogel, so that the conductive hydrogel fits perfectly with the teeth and whitens the teeth evenly. The conductive hydrogel in the device can fit perfectly with the shape of the teeth, and the hydrogel can be replaced after use, so the device can be used repeatedly.

[0030] In some embodiments, the electrolyte may be an electrolyte with a relatively stable pH value and high biosafety, such as a sodium sulfate solution, a sodium chloride solution, and a phosphate buffer solution at a physiological concentration.

[0031] In one embodiment of the present invention, the conductive hydrogel is prepared by a target solvent and a target solute, wherein the target solvent includes at least one of phosphate buffer, physiological concentration sodium chloride and physiological concentration sodium sulfate, and the target solute includes at least one of sodium alginate, chitosan and agar.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present invention, the conductive hydrogel contains a target solute at a concentration of 2-3%, so that the Young's modulus of the conductive hydrogel is between 15000 and 40000 Pa.

[0033] In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrode 2 is made of titanium-ruthenium-iridium alloy, platinum or boron-doped diamond, which can ensure the high stability of the electrode 3 and the high electro-oxidation catalytic efficiency.

[0034] In one embodiment of the present invention, the speed and amount of free radical generation can be controlled, so that while achieving teeth whitening, damage to the physiological structure of the tooth surface can be reduced.

[0035] In addition, some related technologies can also use peroxide whitening method, which mainly uses hydrogen peroxide and urea peroxide as substrates, assisted by organic / inorganic catalysts and photodynamic catalysis. This method will uncontrollably produce a large number of free radicals, which will cause a large amount of degradation of organic matter on the tooth surface while whitening the teeth, thereby causing the collapse of the hydroxyapatite columnar structure on the tooth surface, and ultimately leading to adverse effects such as tooth demineralization, decreased hardness, and increased roughness.

[0036] The essence of free radicals is that they are formed by small molecules gaining or losing electrons, so the inventors considered introducing electrochemical advanced oxidation technology into the field of tooth whitening to improve the efficiency of free radical generation and achieve a good whitening effect. Secondly, electrochemical whitening technology can achieve controllable free radical production, which can greatly reduce tooth damage, thereby reducing the side effects of whitening teeth and reducing the possibility of repeated tooth staining, which is more in line with patients' psychological expectations of tooth bleaching results. At the same time, based on this technology, it can be prepared into a small wearable device that is easy to carry. Patients can wear it and use it by themselves under the guidance of a doctor, which will reduce the patient's visit time in the hospital. Through this device, efficient and low-damage whitening of teeth can be achieved. Figure 3 As shown, the teeth are first stained with tannic acid and ferrous sulfate, and then the crown is whitened using a wired teeth whitening device. The experimental results show that the whitening tray can achieve basic whitening of the crown within two hours and complete whitening of the crown within five hours. That is, the effect diagram before and after bleaching using the wired teeth whitening device of the embodiment of the present invention shows that the bleaching effect of the device is very good, and the stained teeth can be bleached quickly.

[0037] In one embodiment of the present invention, the controllable factors include at least one of the following: voltage and operating time of the power supply, type of the electrolytic medium, type, area and spacing of the electrodes 2 .

[0038] like Figure 4 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a wired teeth whitening device, which is applied to the wired teeth whitening device mentioned in any of the above embodiments, comprising:

[0039] Step S1, obtaining the patient's dentition information;

[0040] Step S2, making a dental tray 1 based on the dentition information;

[0041] Step S3, loading the pre-prepared electrode 2 into the dental tray 1 to obtain a wired teeth whitening device; wherein, when the electrolyte medium is an electrolyte, after the patient wears the wired teeth whitening device, the electrolyte is injected into the dental tray 1 through the electrolyte injection channel 3 and the removal channel 3 reserved in the dental tray 1.

[0042] It can be understood that the method embodiment and the device embodiment provided by the present invention are based on the same inventive concept and have the same beneficial effects, and the beneficial effects of the method embodiment will not be elaborated herein.

[0043] Two specific embodiments are introduced below, namely an intraoral power supply type teeth whitening device (ie, embodiment 1) and an extraoral power supply type teeth whitening device (ie, embodiment 2).

[0044] Embodiment 1

[0045] 1) Use oral scanning to obtain the patient's dentition information and export the dentition information into stl 3D printing format.

[0046] 2) Using the dentition stl file as a reference, design matching electrodes to be located on the labial and buccal sides of the teeth, with the electrodes close to the teeth but not in direct contact with them. Design wires to connect the buccal and lingual electrodes, design the position of the oral built-in power supply, set the output voltage to 5V, and connect the power supply to the electrode sheet through wires. Design the edge of the dental tray to fit the gingival edge of the teeth, design the electrolyte input and discharge channels near the dental tray (near the upper edge of the dental tray), design the dental tray to be similar to the dentition morphology as a whole, and keep a 2mm gap between the dental tray and the teeth to accommodate the electrolyte. Export the designed dental tray prototype model as an stl format file.

[0047] 3) Using silicone as raw material, print the entity according to the personalized whitening tray prototype designed in the previous step.

[0048] 4) Use polytetrafluoroethylene powder to evenly spray on the inner surface of the whitening tray, and promote the curing of the polytetrafluoroethylene coating by ultraviolet curing.

[0049] 5) Assemble the working electrode, the wire, and the power supply into the interior of the whitening tray prototype according to the originally reserved positions to form a finished teeth whitening tray.

[0050] 6) Wear the finished teeth whitening tray into the corresponding patient's oral dentition, inject 0.1M sodium sulfate solution as electrolyte into the tray through the reserved electrolyte input channel, turn on the power switch to power on, use a working voltage of 6V, and the working electrode generates various free radicals under the action of electrocatalysis, thereby achieving teeth whitening.

[0051] Embodiment 2

[0052] 1) Use oral scanning to obtain the patient's dentition information and export the dentition information into stl 3D printing format.

[0053] 2) With the dentition stl file as a reference, design matching electrodes to be located on the labial and buccal sides of the teeth, respectively. The electrodes are located close to the teeth but not in direct contact with them. Design wires to connect the buccal and lingual electrodes to each other. Design the edge of the dental tray to fit the gingival edge of the teeth. Design electrolyte input and discharge channels near the dental tray (near the upper edge of the dental tray). Design the overall dental tray to be similar to the dentition morphology. Keep a 2mm gap between the dental tray and the teeth to accommodate the electrolyte. Design an extraoral wearable power supply. Design the extraoral power supply to be wearable on the head. Connect the power supply to the working electrode through a wire and set the working voltage to 6V. Export the designed dental tray prototype model as an stl format file.

[0054] 3) Using silicone as raw material, print the entity according to the personalized whitening tray prototype designed in the previous step.

[0055] 4) Use polytetrafluoroethylene powder to evenly spray on the inner surface of the whitening tray, and promote the curing of the polytetrafluoroethylene coating by ultraviolet curing.

[0056] 5) Assemble the working electrode, the wire, and the power supply into the interior of the whitening tray prototype according to the originally reserved positions to form a finished teeth whitening tray.

[0057] 6) Wear the finished teeth whitening tray into the corresponding patient's oral dentition, inject 0.1M sodium sulfate solution as electrolyte into the tray through the reserved electrolyte input channel, turn on the power switch to power on, use a working voltage of 6V, and the working electrode generates various free radicals under the action of electrocatalysis, thereby achieving teeth whitening.

[0058] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as primary and secondary are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical factors in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0059] Finally, it should be noted that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wired teeth whitening device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a dental tray (1), and an electrolytic medium and an electrode (2) arranged inside the dental tray (1); the electrode (2) is connected to the electrolytic medium; the electrode (2) is used to be connected to a power source inside the dental tray (1) or an external power source via a wire; the electrolytic medium is used to wrap around the teeth and generate free radicals for whitening the teeth when electricity is applied.

2. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dental tray (1) is made by 3D printing or molding.

3. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner surface of the dental tray (1) is provided with an inert coating, and the inert coating is used to prevent the free radicals from damaging the dental tray (1).

4. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The inert coating is a polytetrafluoroethylene coating.

5. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrolytic medium is an electrolyte, and the dental tray (1) is provided with an injection channel (3) and a removal channel (3) for allowing the electrolyte to enter and exit.

6. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The electrolyte includes at least one of phosphate buffer, physiological concentration sodium chloride, and physiological concentration sodium sulfate.

7. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrode (2) is made of titanium-ruthenium-iridium alloy, platinum, graphite or boron-doped diamond.

8. The wired teeth whitening device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The speed and amount of free radical generation can be controlled.

9. The wired teeth whitening device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The controllable factors include at least one of the following: the voltage and working time of the power supply, the type of the electrolytic medium, and the type, area and spacing of the electrodes (2).

10. A method for manufacturing a wired teeth whitening device, characterized in that: A wired teeth whitening device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising: Obtain patient dentition information; Based on the dentition information, a dental tray (1) is produced; The pre-prepared electrode (2) is installed in the dental tray (1) to obtain a wired teeth whitening device; wherein, when the electrolyte medium is an electrolyte, after the patient wears the wired teeth whitening device, the electrolyte is injected into the dental tray (1) through the electrolyte injection channel (3) and the removal channel (3) reserved in the dental tray (1).

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