Detachable Denture Tray Assembly for Single-Visit Fabrication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The conventional method of fabricating dentures is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, requiring multiple visits to the dentist and involving complex processes that can lead to inaccuracies and poor fit due to the diversity in patients' mouth sizes and shapes.
Innovation Solution
A dental impression tray assembly with detachable pieces and software for 3D modeling allows for accurate fabrication of dentures in a single visit, reducing the number of patient visits and manual labor, using polymer materials and an intra-oral tracer to measure jaw relations and centric relation, and generating a virtual model for precise denture creation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional flask investment technique is used for denture fabrication, then dentures can be produced with traditional methods, but the process requires multiple patient visits and involves significant time and manual labor
Solution Approach 1:
The denture fabrication process is segmented into distinct functional components: digital scanning captures oral anatomy, 3D modeling software processes the data, and additive manufacturing or CNC machining produces the final denture. This segmentation allows each step to be optimized independently and eliminates the need for multiple patient visits by consolidating measurements and adjustments into digital workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
Physical impressions and models are replaced with digital copies created through intraoral scanning. The digital model serves as a virtual replica of the patient's oral anatomy, allowing for precise measurements, virtual try-ins, and accurate denture fabrication without requiring physical plaster models or multiple impression-taking visits.
2Measurement precision
If conventional multi-visit process is used, then accurate measurements can be obtained through multiple impressions and adjustments, but the fabrication process becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
Manual impression-taking, plaster model creation, and physical model shipping between dentist and laboratory are replaced with a digital system. An intraoral scanner captures high-precision 3D data directly in the patient's mouth, and digital models are instantly available for fabrication, eliminating mechanical steps that consume time and labor while maintaining measurement accuracy.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional flask investment technique is used, then dentures can be fabricated with established methods, but human errors and variability in the process increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fabrication process transitions from manual, variable human operations to controlled digital and automated processes. Digital scanning captures precise geometric parameters, software algorithms consistently process the data according to established protocols, and automated manufacturing equipment reproduces the design with high precision, eliminating human error while maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized digital workflows.
4Reliability
If multiple appointments are required for denture fabrication, then comprehensive measurements and adjustments can be made, but the overall cost and complexity of the process increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple separate steps that traditionally required different visits and personnel are merged into an integrated digital workflow. The intraoral scan, 3D modeling, virtual try-in, and fabrication instructions are combined into a single digital file set that can be processed continuously, reducing process complexity while maintaining comprehensive measurement and adjustment capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method of obtaining a gum impression of a patient's mouth and measuring jaw relations, a dental impression tray assembly including a lower tray and an upper tray to fabricate a denture, is used. The lower tray includes a first piece and a pair of second pieces and the upper tray includes a third piece and fourth piece. The method includes inserting the lower tray loaded with an impression material into the mouth to take an impression; taking out the lower tray from the mouth and cutting the impression material along a borderline between the first piece and the pair of second pieces; separating the first piece from the pair of second pieces; attaching an intra-oral tracer to the first piece and inserting the first piece, to which the intra-oral tracer is attached, and the third piece into the mouth to measure the jaw relations.