Adjustable Dental Guard with Pivotable Bite Pads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Off-the-shelf dental guards for bruxism do not adequately fit a variety of users and provide comfort, as they are not adjustable and often cause irritation due to their rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A dental guard with a u-shaped band and adjustable bite pad assemblies, featuring a soft overmolded polymeric material for cushioning and a pivotable design to enhance fit, includes a composite bite pad structure with a hard upper surface and soft lower surface to cushion teeth grinding, and adjustable positioning via cylindrical protrusions and receivers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If off-the-shelf dental guards are used, then cost is reduced, but fit and comfort deteriorate due to lack of adjustability
Solution Approach 1:
The dental guard incorporates adjustable components including bite pads that can be repositioned along the band, and a buccal shield with adjustable positioning features. This allows the guard to adapt dynamically to different user anatomies while maintaining a standardized manufacturing process, resolving the contradiction between cost-effectiveness and customized fit.
Solution Approach 2:
The dental guard is divided into separate functional components: a band, bite pads, and a buccal shield. This segmentation allows each component to be independently adjusted and positioned to suit individual user needs, providing custom-fit capabilities without requiring complete customization of the entire device, thus maintaining cost efficiency.
2Strength
If rigid dental guard materials are used, then structural strength is improved, but comfort deteriorates due to gum and lip irritation
Solution Approach 1:
The dental guard applies different material properties to different regions: the band and bite pads use harder materials for structural strength and grinding inhibition, while the buccal shield and contacting surfaces use softer, more compliant materials to reduce irritation to gums and lips. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between strength and comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The dental guard utilizes composite construction combining materials with different mechanical properties - harder polymeric materials for the band and bite pads provide structural integrity, while softer polymeric materials in the buccal shield and lining layers provide comfort and reduce irritation, achieving both strength and comfort simultaneously.
3Device complexity
If fixed positioning design is used, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates due to inability to accommodate various mouth sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The dental guard incorporates adjustable components including bite pads that can be repositioned along the band, and a buccal shield with adjustable positioning features. This allows the guard to adapt dynamically to different user anatomies while maintaining a standardized manufacturing process, resolving the contradiction between cost-effectiveness and customized fit.
Solution Approach 2:
The dental guard is divided into separate functional components: a band, bite pads, and a buccal shield. This segmentation allows each component to be independently adjusted and positioned to suit individual user needs, providing custom-fit capabilities without requiring complete customization of the entire device, thus maintaining cost efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A dental guard including a generally u-shaped band having a curved central portion and a pair of opposite aft ends, each of the aft ends of the band including a laterally extending cylindrical protrusion; and a pair of bite pad assemblies adjustably mountable onto the opposite aft ends of the band. Each of the bite pad assemblies includes a longitudinal channel configured for receiving one of the aft ends of the band for adjusting the location of the bite pad assembly on the band to adjust the length of the dental guard. Each of the bite pad assemblies also includes an elongate slot defined in a sidewall of the bite pad assembly adjacent to and open to the channel, the slot being configured to receive the laterally extending cylindrical protrusion of the aft end of the band and the slot including a plurality of spaced apart receivers for fixedly but releasably receiving the protrusion to enable adjustable positioning of the bite pad assembly relative to the aft end. The receivers are configured to enable the aft end of the band to pivot relative to the bite pad assembly when installed thereon to enhance fit of the dental guard to the user and optimize placement of the dental guard relative to a buccal side of the front teeth of the user.