Accufit dental carrier

Abstract

A dental carrier that allows a stable transfer of indirect dental restorations, such as veneers. The carrier may provide a custom fit onto the teeth. The height of the carrier may allow full stability of the restorations, such as by supporting their neck. Windows 2 may be provided through which adhesive can be applied to the dental restorations, further aiding in stability on transfer. The windows can also be used for focused curing in the mid body and reduces ambient or accidental curing of the restoration in the perimeters. The carrier unit may have a thickness that reduces ambient and accidental curing of restoration cement before it should be cured. On removal of the carrier, the excess unset cement can easily be accessed and cleaned.

Description

This invention relates to a device used in the dental industry to allow multiple indirect restorations to be placed at the same time. An indirect dental restoration is an item that is made in a lab, such as a crown or veneer. When a dentist is placing the indirect dental restoration onto a tooth, it needs to have cement be applied then carried manually from the worksurface to the patient. As these restorations are often small they can easily be dropped or slip when holding. The cement can interfere with visual angulation, can make the restoration slippy to hold, and can start to ambiently set. This difficulty increases when there is more than one adjacent restoration going in at the same time. If the cement sets before all multiple restorations are fitted then it can cause fit issues and will need to re-do them. This problem then amplifies when placing anterior restorations, especially veneers. Dental veneers by their nature can sit in a number of different planes on a tooth and if there is mild rotation from one veneer it is not always possible to identify this until the cement has set, at which time this is too late. In addition if there are multiple veneers to fit, and one of them is angled incorrectly, the others will not fit at all. This invention is a carrier which is devised as a way to allow one or multiple anterior indirect restorations to be transferred from the worksurface to the patient at the same time, and placed in one go by the dentist. It holds the restorations securely in place with a neck support which is unique to this invention thereby removing the positioning, angulation risk and ensuring good fit of all restorations as is visually clear. This not only makes the job less stressful for the clinician, but also ensures a better outcome for the patient. By its nature of allowing multiple placement at the same time it speeds up the time of placement which is beneficial to all. The carrier has a window which allows the energy from a dental curing light to pass to locally cure the cement while reducing general curing of cement on all surfaces. This then allows the cement to be removed more easily resulting in a better outcome. The carrier is a pre-designed framework that allows a dentist to transfer one or more dental restoration units securely in one go to the patient and increase the accuracy of placement while reducing the stresses involved with placement. It also acts to reduce the transfer of non essential curing energy on intial tack which is unique to this carrier. The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanied drawings in which; Figure 1. The front aspect of the carrier is designed to support the neck 5 of the restoration and has an access window 2 in the mid body of the facial aspect 1. The access window is 2.5mm by 2.5mm square and allows placement of an adhesive to hold the restoration while transferring. Figure 2. Shows the side aspect with the facial aspect 1 and the access windows 2. It extends over the posterior teeth with no windows. Figure 3. This is the top image with facial aspect 1 and inner lingual aspect 3 which supports the restorations. Figure 4. This is an oblique posterior view showing the windows 2, the lingual aspect 3 and the inner supportive section 4 which supports the lingual aspect of the restoration. Figure 5. Shows the underside view with the facial aspect 1 and lingual aspect 3. Figure 6. This is a cross section of the carrier through one of the windows 2, and shows the facial aspect 1, lingual aspect 3 and supportive section 4. The width of the carrier from surface 1 to 3 is 2 to 2.5mm Detailed Description The carrier is a pre-designed framework custom fitted to each case and printed using biocompatible printing materials. The choice of material can be variable depending upon the dentist requests, however would be suggested as Keystone KeySplint soft. Once printed and cured the carrier is ready for use. Before transferring the restorations using the carrier the restorations are placed on the inner surface 3 to be in the correct position. They are supported at the neck by a support 5 for stability purposes with adhesive then placed through window 2 which is 2.5mm x 2.5mm in the mid body of the restoration. Both of these are unique to this carrier invention design. Once seated in the carrier dental cement is applied to the fitting surface of the restoration before transferring. The carrier and restorations are transferred to the mouth of the patient and placed to seat. The adhesive in the window 2 is removed and this window 2 now serves to allow curing from a dental curing light through the window 2 from the facial aspect 1. A dental light curing unit is used whose energy sets the cement. It is focused through the windows 2 which allow an uninterrupted flow of energy to cure the mid point of the restoration. This then primarily stabilises the restoration to the tooth. The material thickness of the carrier ranges from 2mm to 2.5mm and reduces the penetration efficiency of the curing light energy in other areas other than the windows thereby keeping the cement in a fluid phase making it easier to remove once the carrier is removed. This is called tack curing. The ability to tack cure while preventing curing of cement is unique to this invention design. Once this tack cure has been done the carrier is removed and the excess cement which is still in a fluid stage can easily be removed before final curing.

Claims

1. A pre-designed carrier unit that has functionality to stabily transfer indirect dental restorations to the mouth and prevent pre-mature curing of the cement used to fix dental restorations to teeth.

2. The carrier unit referred to in claim 1 has an inner surface which is bespoke fitted to each dental case.

3. The carrier unit referred to in claim 1 supports the neck of the restorations which is unique to this design and results in a more stable positioning of the restorations4. The carrier unit referred to in claim 1 has a unique access window which is used for adhesive transfer of the restorations to stabilise them in the carrier, and also then used for focused curing in the mid body of the restoration. This stabilises the restoration while allowing cleaning of remaining cement to ensure clean margins.

5. The carrier unnit referred to in claim 1 has a material thickness which is designed to reduce the ambient and accidental curing of the restoration cement before it should be cured. This is unique to this carrier.

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