How to design an oral device

Abstract

A method is disclosed for designing an intraoral splint-type device 1, in particular for treating bruxism and / or sleep apnea, by means of CAD / CAM software techniques. The method of the invention is characterized in that it starts with an intraoral scan, followed by a thermal simulation to convert the dentition 2, 3 defined as a one-piece mesh into as many dental pieces 4 as need to be recognized. This sectioning allows isolating the geometry of the individual dental pieces 4 in order to design the intraoral device 1 around them. In other words, this sectioning allows non-uniform modification of the thickness 6c, height, etc. for each dental piece 4 according to the needs of the patient. This method allows the user to handle the intraoral device 1 thus created very precisely, to meet the mechanical and dental needs of the individual dental pieces 4, and to provide the patient with excellent comfort.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for designing an oral device using a computer and a program or software for computer-aided design (CAD), in particular for designing an oral device or oral splint that is intended to be placed in a user's mouth to treat various jaw disorders such as teeth grinding, mouth breathing or snoring, and / or sleep apnea, among others. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, various intra-oral or mandibular devices for mandibular release and / or advancement are known for treating bruxism and sleep apnea while the patient is asleep.

[0003] These mandibular devices are tailored to meet the patient's specific needs and are also known as discharge or mandibular advancement splints. Mandibular discharge splints, on the other hand, are non-metallic, rigid devices placed in the patient's mouth, typically in the maxillary dental arch, to prevent the maxillary dental fragments from pressing against the mandibular dental fragments. Furthermore, the splints maintain the jawbone (maxilla and mandible) in proper position and relax the muscles, preventing them from tensing, so they do not exert excessive force while the splint is in place.

[0004] These mandibular devices, or mandibular advancement splints, can also provide slight advancement of the mandible, which prevents the airway from closing while the patient is asleep. The device is designed to measure the patient and is placed inside the patient's mouth in such a way that it has an upper region intended to be placed in the maxillary dentition and a lower region intended to be placed in the mandibular dentition. The mandibular advancement mechanism is connected between the upper and lower zones and is positioned and tensioned in such a way that the lower zone remains advanced relative to the upper zone. This results in a slight advancement of the jaw relative to the upper jaw compared to the resting position where both sections overlap each other for the patient's normal occlusion. This opens up more space at the back of the oral cavity, thus facilitating the passage of air into and out of the pharynx.

[0005] The mandibular device defined above is designed and manufactured using CAD / CAM technology, where CAD stands for Computer Aided Design and CAM stands for Computer Aided Manufacturing. This technology is widely known in the dental field, where any dental element such as a crown, implant or splint is usually designed using CAD and printed using CAM or 3D printing.

[0006] The design of a mandibular device or dental component using this computer-implemented CAD / CAM technology begins with an intraoral scan of the patient. The intraoral scanner is a computer system into which the patient's data and prosthetic prescription are entered. Once the data is entered, a fiber optic device is inserted into the patient's mouth and takes images of the patient's mouth until a complete 3D image is obtained. This 3D image, along with the data, forms a file that is sent to a design program for a personalized fit for each individual patient. The design of the dental component is carried out using CAD software.

[0007] Currently, known design software on the dental market is based on the design of mandibular devices through the generation and modification of a mesh that defines the patient's mouth or dentition. The mesh is a data set that defines the surface of the patient's dentition in space as a single element. The dentition is the set of dental pieces, including incisors, canines, and molars, that make up the patient's maxillary and mandibular dentition. The design software works with a complete mesh of uniform thickness, which is later sent to 3D printing and completed manually.

[0008] Once the dental product to be manufactured is designed, a file is created and sent to a dental printer, or 3D printer. Typically, the 3D printing process involves the printer depositing and solidifying material according to instructions from the design file. Once the first layer solidifies, the 3D printing process continues with the second layer, repeating the same process in a layered manner to create a pre-designed three-dimensional object. However, printed dental objects are constructed with a mesh of uniform thickness, so after printing, the object must be manually adjusted and corrected, and excess material must be removed. This correction to fit the device to the patient's mouth is quite tedious, and the contact areas between the dentition are not very detailed. In other words, the splints produced by the above process are neither the most accurate nor the most comfortable for patients. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The objective of the present invention is to provide an improved, more accurate method for designing splint-type intraoral devices that minimizes manual adjustments after manufacture, while providing a more personalized design that is more comfortable for the patient. At the same time, this method of the present invention provides the personalized treatment needed to treat bruxism, sleep apnea, snoring, tongue function, and even creates surgical guides. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The object of the present invention is an improved, more accurate method for designing intraoral or mandibular devices, often referred to as dental splints, for treating, among other things, bruxism, the oral breathing disorder known as snoring, tongue parafunction, and sleep apnea. In particular, embodiments of the present method will focus on the design of intraoral devices or splints, without limiting the present design method. The present method is implemented using CAD software installed on a computer. First, a file is created based on an intraoral or extraoral scan of a patient's previous model. The file contains at least one dentition of the patient or oral data of the previous model, and is transferred to the CAD software to visualize and operate on at least one dentition belonging to the patient in the form of a mesh or single piece. Once the file is opened, the present design method begins, characterized by first including a step in which the dentition mesh is segmented into various dental parts by thermal simulation. The thermal simulation consists of assigning hot spots of a certain temperature to the dental piece and hot spots of a different temperature to dental pieces adjacent to the dental piece with the hot spots of the first temperature. According to this method, adjacent dental pieces have different heat spots.

[0011] Once the CAD software has assigned hot spots to all dental pieces, the thermal simulation is performed by conduction, therefore every dental piece is defined individually, as adjacent dental pieces are at different temperatures and therefore no heat is transferred between adjacent dental pieces.

[0012] Once each dental piece is defined as an individual dental piece, the device design will be contoured individually, and the method of the invention will subsequently define local vectors and centroids for each individual dental piece, and therefore the local vectors will define the direction of the support curves to generate the final contour of the splint.

[0013] The described method has various advantages, such as identifying each and every dental piece to meet the mechanical and comfort needs of each individual dental piece for each patient. Furthermore, the described method provides more precise control over the design, such as the ability to impart non-uniform thickness throughout the splint. The possibility of individually designing splints around each individual dental piece allows for monitoring and designing with greater precision the contact surfaces between opposing dentition, and also allows for control of the internal forces of the splint, preventing future changes in the patient's occlusion. In summary, the method of the present invention allows for a more precise design and manufacture of oral devices personalized for each patient.

[0014] Furthermore, thanks to the possibility to control the amount and thickness of the material, it is also possible to adapt the oral device to the product with less material to facilitate 3D printing.

[0015] Details of the invention are shown in the following figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a splint-type intraoral device (1) designed and manufactured according to the method of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 shows the patient's dentition (2, 3) in a first step of the method of the invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 shows the second step of the method of the invention for the dentition to be addressed (2, 3). [Figure 3a] FIG. 2 is another view of the dentition (2, 3) after the second step of the method of the invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing software in the third step of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 illustrates the software at the start of the fourth step of the present invention. [Figure 6]FIG. 10 illustrates software for the fourth step of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 shows a possible embodiment of the method of the invention; [Figure 8] FIG. 10 illustrates the software for the fifth step of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 illustrates another possible embodiment of the method of the invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram after the sixth step of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 4 illustrates another possible embodiment of the method of the invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 illustrates another possible embodiment of the method of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The present invention relates to an improved and accurate method for designing intraoral devices (1), such as dental splints or aligners, as shown in Figure 1. The purpose of the intraoral device is dental treatment, most commonly to treat bruxism and / or sleep apnea. As with other design methods, the method of the present invention is equally applicable to the design of other intraoral devices based on intraoral scans of the patient or extraoral scans of a previous model of the patient, the subsequent design of the device (1) using computer and CAD software technology adapted to the patient's dental specimen, and finally 3D printing of the device (1) using CAM technology.

[0018] Intraoral scanning is based on the creation of a 3D digital file of the patient's mouth and subsequent working on that 3D digital file. Thus, in the method of the present invention, an intraoral scan of the patient's mouth is first performed to create at least one file using at least one dentition (2, 3) of the dental piece to be worked on. Typically, two files are created, separating the patient's upper dentition (2) and lower dentition (3). The intraoral scan is then transferred to a CAD program, i.e., design software, using the dentition files (2, 3), and a splint-type intraoral device (1) design is constructed for the dentition files (2, 3) and adapted to the patient's dental needs. As can be seen in FIG. 2, when the file is opened in the program, the patient's dentition (2, 3) to be worked on appears as a single piece, or mesh, with a uniform thickness established by the initial data described above.

[0019] However, the method of the present invention is characterized by segmenting the dentition (2, 3), defined as a mesh, i.e., a single piece, into as many parts as there are dental pieces (4) to be worked on. The segmentation of the dentition (2, 3) by the CAD software is performed by thermal simulation, as can be seen in FIG. 3, by assigning hot spots of temperatures A and B in the different dental pieces (4). Hot spots of different temperatures are assigned, with certain hot spots of one temperature (A) being assigned to some dental pieces (4), and other hot spots of a different temperature (B) being assigned to dental pieces (4) adjacent to the dental piece (4) containing the hot spot of temperature (A). In this way, adjacent dental pieces (4) are at different temperatures. In the CAD software, these hot spots (A, B) are displayed in different colors, as can be seen in FIG. 3.

[0020] These hot spots (A, B) are designed to separate the dentition (2, 3) where work is performed and define the different dental pieces (4) of the dentition (2, 3) by transferring heat through conduction. In detail, a thermal simulation was performed using software, and it was found that the hot spots (A, B) transfer heat through the mesh to points defined by different temperatures, as shown in FIG. 3a. In summary, because adjacent dental pieces (4) contain hot spots (A, B) with different temperatures, heat is transferred to the areas where the adjacent dental pieces (4) begin, which are defined by different temperatures. The limit where heat is no longer transferred is the boundary between adjacent dental pieces (4), which corresponds to the area of ​​minimum curvature. The area of ​​minimum curvature is found in the space between the dental pieces (4) and between the dental pieces (4) and the gums (4a). In this way, heat is not transferred between different dental pieces (4), and the geometric structure of each individual dental piece (4) can be isolated.

[0021] This segmentation allows the geometry of each dental piece (4) to be isolated, allowing the intraoral device (1) to be individually designed around each dental piece (4) in a non-uniform manner according to the needs of each individual patient. This method allows the user to handle the resulting intraoral device (1) with great precision, meeting the mechanical and dental needs of each individual dental piece (4), and providing excellent patient comfort. This method allows optimal designs to be created to treat any jaw or dental disorder, such as bruxism or sleep apnea, or to design aligners or surgical guides.

[0022] Next, once the dental pieces (4) are separated, a 3D space is assigned to them, and vectors defining three directions (x, y, z) from the center of gravity (5b) of each dental piece (4) are established, i.e., local axes (5) and centroids (5b), as shown in FIG. 4. The center of gravity (5b) is understood as the location of the geometric center of gravity of the body. The local axes (5) of each dental piece (4) are calculated according to the centers of gravity (5b) of adjacent dental pieces (4), and the bisector between adjacent centers of gravity (5b) is the directional axis (Y) of each dental piece (4). The bisector is understood as a geometric location equidistant from a point on a plane originating from the vertex of an angle and a side of that angle, where the vertex is the center of gravity (5b) of the analyzed dental piece (4), and the side of the angle is the line connecting the center of gravity (5b) of the analyzed dental piece (4) to the adjacent centers of gravity (5b). The directional axis (X) is perpendicular to the directional axis (Y) and the directional axis (Z) is the same as the axis given in the initial data, i.e. the axis (Z) is parallel to the axis (Z) of the general axis (5a), as can be seen in Figure 4. These axes (5) will serve to define the orientation of the contour (6) of the intraoral device (1) around the individual dental pieces (4), as can be seen in Figures 5 and 6.

[0023] Next, as can be seen from Figures 5 and 6, curves are defined in the areas corresponding to the individual dental pieces (4), which will serve as a support for the final contour (6) of the splint-type intraoral device (1) according to the method of the present invention. The contour surface (6) of the intraoral device (1) is defined by the vectors (5) and the external lines (6a) defined by the surface curves of the individual dental pieces (4), and can be designed and adapted independently. The following Figure 6 shows a cross-section of the dental piece (4) in the plane of the directions (Y, Z). The external lines (6a) define the external contour (6) of the intraoral device (1), and the internal lines (6b) define the outer surface of the dental piece (4). The distance between the external lines (6a) and (6b) defines the thickness (6c) of the contour (6) of the intraoral device (1). According to this method, each dental piece (4), except for the last molar, has a surface guide curve that can be rotated in the directional plane (Y, Z) as much as necessary to achieve closure of the contour (6) of the intraoral device (1), as can be seen in Figures 5 and 6. This step allows the thickness (6c) of the intraoral device (1) to be determined for each dental piece by adapting and defining the individual cross sections defining the thickness (6c) of the curve. This allows the distance between the outer line (6a) and the inner line (6b) to be adjusted according to the patient's mechanical or prosthetic needs. Furthermore, this step allows monitoring the contact surface with the opposing dental piece (40), as shown in Figure 6. This allows the creation of splint-type intraoral devices (1) with non-uniform thicknesses (6c) in different areas of the splint (1) according to the dental diagnosis and the infinite number of treatment possibilities.

[0024] According to the method of the present invention, instead of using the mesh of the patient's dentition (2, 3) as a single piece, the splint-type intraoral device (1) can be designed and manufactured using dental pieces (4) of independent geometric structure. In other words, the method generates surfaces that are not forced to follow the geometry of the initial data. This highly personalized segmentation and adaptation of the contour (6) of the intraoral device (1) to the individual dental pieces (4) is achieved thanks to the previous step of the method of the present invention, in which the mesh of the patient's dentition (2, 3) was converted into several independent dental pieces (4).

[0025] Optionally, in certain desired contact areas, depending on the design or dental criteria, it is even possible to completely eliminate the thickness (6c) so that the contact between the maxillary dentition (2) and the opposing mandibular dentition (3) is not splint-splint, but dental strip-splint. This achieves an interrupted intraoral device (1) that provides greater patient comfort by reducing the overall thickness (6c) of the intraoral device (1) placed in the patient's mouth. Furthermore, if the patient loses a dental strip (4) of one of the patient's dentitions (2, 3) during the creation of the device (1), the missing dental strip is filled with material, and thus the device (1) contains additional material, allowing the thickness (6c) of the device (1) to be completely removed later to perform other necessary operations.

[0026] Optionally, Figure 7 shows a possible embodiment of the method of the present invention, in which the thickness (6c) of the contour (6) of the anterior region can be removed to create an anterior hole (8) into which the incisor dental piece (4) fits. The anterior hole (8) can reduce the load applied by the incisor, since it can transfer this load toward the root region of the dental piece (4). This achieves better comfort for the patient and also reduces pain or possible future dental problems. This is an example showing how the method of the present invention can control the action of internal forces by designing the intraoral device (1) to prevent future occlusal changes or induce occlusal changes if this is the goal of treatment.

[0027] Once the thickness (6c) of the oral device (1) has been defined for each dental piece (4) of the dentition (2, 3), the next step in the CAD program is to generate a simulation of the final contour (6) of the oral device (1) defined in the previous step, where there is a constraint curve (7) representing the height of the oral device (1), as can be seen in Figure 8. The next step is to modify the height of the final contour (6) of the oral device (1), i.e., to define the height of the oral device (1) for each individual dental piece (4) by transferring some points (7a) onto the constraint curve (7), which is called a Spline in CAD design.

[0028] Height adjustment is performed by shifting several points (7a) of the limiting curve (7), or spline, from the individual dental piece (4) to the desired height defined by the final curve (7b) shown in FIG. 8. The height of the points (7a) can be adjusted in both the vestibular and lingual regions (inside the mouth) to tailor the height of the intraoral device (1) to individual patient criteria or needs. It is recommended that the height of the splint be above the equator of the dental piece to ensure minimal retention when placed in the patient's mouth. This method allows the height of the intraoral device (1) to be defined in individual cross sections of the dental piece (4) according to criteria or the patient's dental or treatment needs.

[0029] Furthermore, alternatively, another possible embodiment of the method of the present invention consists of modifying the height of the oral device (1) in at least one interproximal region occupied by the gums (4a), defined as the space formed between the dental pieces, by moving point (7a) of the restraint curve (7) to a line below the equator of the dental piece, creating a notch or vertical groove (9) as shown in Figure 9, to ensure retention of the oral device (1) in the dentition (2, 3) with more comfortable insertion forces.

[0030] Once the thickness (6c) and height of the oral device (1) have been adjusted, the final contours (6) of the individual dental pieces (4) are generated, accepting the design created in the CAD program. All pieces of the oral device (1), i.e., all geometric structures of the individual dental pieces (4), are then joined together, converting the oral device (1) back into a mesh, which from that point on acts as the oral device (1) as a whole. Once the mesh of the oral device (1) has been generated, the intersections of the dentition (2, 3) with the opposing dentition (2, 3) can be calculated to define the desired amount of material in the contact areas between the dentition (2, 3), depending on the patient's needs.

[0031] As can be seen in FIG. 10, after converting the intraoral device (1) into a mesh, the next step in the method is to map the intraoral device (1) to visualize the contact areas between the dentitions (2, 3). Typically, software designs define the contact between the dentitions (2, 3) using a color gradient defined by at least three shades depending on the contact or intersection between the dentition (2, 3) and the opposing dentition. Typically, the color gradient is red-orange-green depending on the degree of intersection, as shown in FIG. 10. This method allows visualization of areas where less or more material can be added or removed in the contact area, which would otherwise bother the patient, by simply indicating the area where material should be added or removed according to criteria established in the software tool and simply selecting whether to add or remove material. This step allows the contact of the intraoral device (1) between the dental dentitions (2, 3) to be adapted, achieving proper occlusal alignment without manually printing and molding the occlusion.

[0032] Once the amount of material in the intraoral device (1) is adapted to the patient's prosthetic needs and the previous steps have been verified, the penultimate step consists of performing a Boolean operation. A Boolean operation is defined as an operation for creating objects by combining two of them through mathematical operations, which can be subtracted, joined or intersected to form a new object. In the field of design using CAD, this is a technique used in 3D using planes, surfaces or solids to obtain a volume from the addition, subtraction or intersection of other volumes.

[0033] Optionally, according to a possible embodiment of the method of the present invention using Boolean operations, a housing similar to the hole (12a) shown in FIG. 12 can be generated in the contact area between the dentition (2, 3). Inside the housing, buttons made of a resistant material, such as titanium or wire, are present. These buttons inserted into the oral device (1) can reinforce the area where the housing is constructed and provide greater rigidity and resistance at the contact point, i.e., the area of ​​strong bite between the dentition (2, 3). In this way, instead of adding material to the profile (6) or increasing its thickness (6c), the oral device (1) achieves greater robustness with a profile (6) having a thinner thickness (6c). In this way, the stiffness of the oral device (1) can be controlled, resulting in a comfortable bite and a strong oral device (1). Alternatively, for treatments requiring a more flexible bite, buttons made of an elastic material can be inserted into the housing. In short, these alternative operations allow for robustness and flexibility in the design.

[0034] Furthermore, in the case of sleep apnea treatment, it is necessary to connect mandibular advancement mechanisms, which are fixed to the sides of the patient's maxillary dentition (2) and mandibular dentition (3), and are positioned and tensioned in a manner that keeps the mandibular dentition (3) advanced relative to the maxillary dentition (2). According to another possible embodiment of the method of the present invention, the mandibular advancement mechanism or any other orthodontic system can be fixed in the intra-oral device (1) by creating a protrusion (12), such as the protrusion shown in Fig. 11, or by creating a gap (12a) intended for placing adhesive, as shown in Fig. 12, to hold the protrusion (12) as an independent part.

[0035] Another possible Boolean operation of the design method of the invention consists in generating guide holes in the splint-type device (1) in the area of ​​the splint where the patient has lost a dental fragment (4). These holes serve to insert and guide drilling tools used in conjunction with the surgical guide, for example to place metallic or other material devices that serve to place implants or other similar applications.

[0036] Another possible Boolean operation of the method of the present invention is based on generating a mesh-like structure on the internal surface of the oral device 1. The internal mesh-like structure is created from a geometric pattern in the YZ plane, which is subsequently adjusted to the internal geometry of the oral device 1 via a transformation of curvature coordinates. This method results in a less rigid oral device 1 with an irregular interior, which uses less material and at the same time provides greater comfort to the patient.

[0037] Another possible Boolean operation of the method of the invention consists in selectively adding to the splint (1) on the interior parts of the maxillary or mandibular dentition (2, 3) a defined protruding shape, such as a cone shape, with a specific function, for example, to educate the tongue so that it does not take up a random position or press in areas where it should not. In other words, a patient who presses or positions his tongue against the incisors will perceive an unpleasant surface in a way that avoids this position. Thus, parafunctional habits, which are all jaw movements that do not have any functional purpose, can be prevented.

[0038] All these possibilities of the design method of the present invention allow to precisely produce intra-oral (1) or mandibular devices for treating individual patients and to save materials, since any modifications can be made by CAD facilitating 3D printing.

[0039] Finally, to complete the method and use of the CAD design program, as can be seen in Figure 1, the dental area (4) is emptied to view the intraoral device (1) and an entry-exit path for the intraoral device (1) to be placed in the patient's mouth is defined, the path can be irregular. In the present case, the invention consists of creating a negative of the patient's dentition (2, 3) in the intraoral device (1) to simulate the entry of the patient's actual dentition (2, 3) into the intraoral device (1) as would be done in surgery by the dentist and the patient so that the splint (1) can be fitted to the patient's mouth in an easy and comfortable way.

[0040] It may also be advisable to perform a simulation of the jaw movement to observe whether the oral device (1) is crossing, i.e., achieving the desired treatment, which allows the design to be modified if necessary before sending the oral device (1) to the 3D printer.

[0041] Once the intraoral device (1) has been designed using a computer CAD program, a file is created with all the necessary data that is sent to a 3D printer or other CAM device to manufacture the device (1).

Claims

1. 1. A method for designing a splint-type intraoral device (1) using CAD software, comprising: opening a file based on an intraoral scan or a scan of a previous model of a patient, and data of at least one dentition (2, 3) of the patient in the form of a mesh or strip; - segmenting said dentition mesh (2, 3) into different dental pieces (4) by thermal simulation, assigning a hot spot of one temperature (A) to a dental piece (4) and a hot spot of another temperature (B) to a dental piece (4) adjacent to the dental piece containing the hot spot of temperature (A), so that said adjacent dental pieces (4) have different hot spots (A, B); - defining at least some local vectors (5) and centroids (5b) for the individual dental pieces (4), which will define the direction of the support curves of the final contour (6) of said intra-oral device (1); A design method comprising:

2. The design method comprises: - an additional step of individually modifying at least one thickness (6c) of the contour (6) of at least one dental piece (4); an additional step of generating a simulation of the final contour (6) of the oral device (1), in which a limiting curve (7) is generated to represent the height of the oral device (1) in the individual dental pieces (4); an additional step of modifying the height of the device (1) by shifting some points (7a) of the limiting curve (7) defined in the individual dental piece (4) towards a final curve (7b) according to the prosthetic treatment needs of the patient; 2. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 1, comprising:

3. 2. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the segmentation of the mesh is carried out by transferring heat by conduction to the areas of smallest radius of curvature between different dental pieces (4).

4. 3. The method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the modification of the thickness (6c) comprises the additional step of adjusting the distance between the outer line (6a) and the inner line (6b) defining the thickness (6c) of the individual dental piece (4).

5. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the modification of the thickness (6c) includes an additional step of completely removing the thickness (6c) in at least one contact area so that the contact between the oral device (1) of the maxillary dentition (2) and the oral device (1) of the opposing mandibular dentition (3) is dental strip-splint rather than splint-splint.

6. 3. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the modification of the thickness (6c) allows an anterior hole (8) to be drilled in the anterior region of the oral device (1) where an incisor dental piece is placed.

7. 3. The method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the modification of the limiting curve (7) defining the height of the oral device (1) includes the additional step of moving the point (7a) from the limiting curve (7) to a final curve (7b) below the equator of the dental piece (4) to create a vertical notch or groove (9).

8. The design method comprises: - an additional step of combining the individual geometric structures of the individual dental pieces (4) of the splint-type intra-oral device (1) in order to convert the final contour (6) into a mesh, i.e. into a single piece; - the additional step of removing or adding material to the final contour (6) mesh of the splint-type intraoral device (1); - the additional step of creating a file using a splint-type device (1) designed to be sent to a 3D printer or another CAM device for manufacturing; 2. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 1, comprising:

9. 9. A method for designing an intra-oral device (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that additional Boolean operations are performed during the steps of adding or removing mesh material.

10. 10. A method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 9, wherein the Boolean operation consists in generating a housing to which a button of a resistive material such as titanium or wire is fixed to provide greater hardness and resistance in the contact area, i.e. the area of ​​strong bite between the patient's dental dentitions (2, 3), at a thinner thickness (6c) of the device (1).

11. 10. The method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 9, wherein the Boolean operation comprises generating a housing to which a button of elastic material is attached for treatments requiring a more flexible bite in the patient's mouth and a thinner thickness (6c) of the oral device (1).

12. 10. The method for designing an intraoral device (1) according to claim 9, wherein the Boolean operation generates a protrusion (12) in the splint-type intraoral device (1) for fixing a mandibular advancement mechanism.

13. 13. The method for designing an intraoral device (1) according to claim 12, wherein the Boolean operation comprises generating holes (12a) in the splint-type intraoral device (1) intended to place adhesive to hold the protrusion (12) as an independent piece, thereby fixing the mandibular advancement mechanism.

14. 10. The method for designing an intraoral device (1) according to claim 9, wherein the Boolean operation consists of generating guide holes in the splint-type device (1) intended to place metal devices that serve to guide milling tools used in conjunction with the surgical guide.

15. 10. The method for designing an oral device (1) according to claim 9, wherein the Boolean operation comprises generating a mesh-like structure on the internal surface of the splint-type device (1) created from a geometric pattern in the YZ plane that is adjusted to the internal geometric structure of the splint-type device (1) by a curved coordinate transformation.

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