Denture Base Fabrication via Molded Cutting Target

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for fabricating denture bases are either labor-intensive and costly due to manual processing or inefficient with commercially available disc-shaped materials, leading to excessive material waste and prolonged processing times, especially when handling undercut portions.

Innovation Solution

A method involving a cutting target mold with attached rod members that allows for the injection and polymerization of denture base material, followed by precise cutting with a cutting machine, reducing material waste and processing time while enabling easier handling of undercut areas.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If disc-shaped dental resin material is used for fabricating denture bases, then material cost is reduced, but material waste increases and processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial costVSAvoidmaterial waste

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The invention applies preliminary action by pre-forming a cutting target with a shape that closely matches the final denture base geometry before the cutting process. The cutting target is molded from dental resin material in a shape that conforms to the intended denture base, minimizing the need for excessive material removal and reducing material waste while maintaining low material costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the parameter of material form from standard disc-shaped blocks to custom-molded cutting targets. By altering the initial shape parameter of the dental resin material to match the target geometry, the process reduces material waste without increasing material cost, as the molded material can be directly formed from cost-effective dental resin.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Quantity of substance

If disc-shaped dental resin material is used for fabricating denture bases, then material cost is reduced, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial costVSAvoidprocessing time

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting target is pre-formed with the approximate final shape through molding before the cutting process begins. This preliminary shaping reduces the amount of material that needs to be removed during cutting, thereby reducing processing time while still using cost-effective dental resin material.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Quantity of substance

If manual fabrication by dental technicians is used, then material cost is reduced, but workload on dental technicians increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial costVSAvoidworkload on dental technicians

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces manual mechanical fabrication by dental technicians with an automated molding and cutting system. The cutting target is molded using a mold and then processed by a cutting machine, substituting manual labor with automated mechanical systems. This reduces the workload on dental technicians while maintaining the use of cost-effective dental resin material.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Quantity of substance

If disc-shaped material is cut to fabricate denture bases, then material cost is reduced, but cutting time increases and undercut portions become difficult to process

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial costVSAvoidcutting efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting target is pre-formed with a shape that anticipates the final denture base geometry, including provisions for undercut portions. This preliminary shaping allows the cutting machine to efficiently remove only the necessary material, improving cutting efficiency and enabling easy processing of undercut portions that would be difficult with disc-shaped material.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach reduces the workload on dental technicians, minimizes material costs, and efficiently processes denture bases with reduced material waste and faster cutting times, particularly for complex shapes like anterior tooth portions.

Implementation Method 1

a molding step of polymerizing the denture base material and molding a cutting target including the polymerized denture base material, the first rod member, and the second rod member

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectPolymerization: Photopolymerisation

Data Source

PatentEP3632370B1Method for fabricating a denture base and denture base fabricating kit

Publication Date: 2021.11.03 DGSHAPE CORP

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AI summary

A denture base is fabricated with reduction of workload of a technician. A method for fabricating a denture base 20 includes: preparing a cutting target mold 40 including molding space 48; attaching a first rod member 17 and a second rod member 18 to the cutting target mold 40; injecting a denture base material 8 into the molding space 48 and hardening the denture base material 8 to obtain a hardened object, thereby molding a cutting target 5; cutting a portion of the cutting target 5 with a cutting machine 60; and detaching the first rod member 17 and the second rod member 18.