At-Home Dental Impression Kits With Gingiva-Safe Bite Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional at-home dental impression kits fail to accurately capture the necessary impressions of a patient's mouth, leading to discomfort and bite issues with fabricated oral devices, and require multiple dental office visits for fitting and adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using at-home dental impression kits that include specialized trays and putty to capture gingiva impressions without distortion, combined with digital rendering and remote dentist approval, allowing for autonomous fabrication and delivery of oral devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If conventional at-home dental impression kits are used, then cost and time of dental office visits are reduced, but the impressions fail to accurately capture gingiva and bite registration, leading to poor fit and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The impression process is divided into three separate components: (1) a first tray and putty for capturing the upper or lower jaw, (2) a second tray and putty for capturing the opposing jaw, and (3) a third tray for bite registration. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, ensuring accurate capture of gingiva, teeth, and bite relationship independently, which when combined creates a complete and accurate digital model for prosthetic fabrication
Solution Approach 2:
A mailing service acts as an intermediary between the patient and the digital scanning facility. The patient mails the physical impression trays to the service, which then scans them using specialized equipment to create digital models. This intermediary enables remote patients to access high-precision digital scanning without traveling to a dental office, maintaining both cost/time benefits and high impression accuracy
2Ease of operation
If conventional at-home dental impression kits are used, then accessibility and affordability are improved, but the fabricated oral devices cause discomfort and bite issues due to inaccurate impressions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary digital rendering of the oral device before fabrication. The digital model created from the segmented impressions is used to generate a virtual representation of the final prosthetic, allowing for review and approval before manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures the device will fit properly and function correctly, preventing discomfort and bite issues while maintaining the ease of at-home impression taking
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback loops at multiple stages: (1) digital rendering allows visual verification of the planned prosthetic design, (2) the segmented impression process allows verification that each component captured the intended anatomical features, and (3) the mailing service provides feedback on impression quality before scanning. This feedback ensures high reliability of the final oral device while maintaining patient-friendly at-home operation
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple dental office visits are required for fitting and adjustments, then oral device fit and comfort are improved, but time and cost are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patient performs the entire impression-taking process at home without requiring a dentist's physical presence. The segmented tray system is designed for easy patient application, and the mailing service handles the scanning and digital model creation. This self-service approach eliminates the need for multiple in-office fitting visits while maintaining high precision through the specialized segmented impression methodology
Solution Approach 2:
The physical mechanical process of in-office fitting and adjustment is replaced with a digital workflow. High-precision digital scanners create accurate 3D models from the segmented impressions, enabling virtual design and planning of the prosthetic. This substitution of mechanical in-office procedures with digital technology achieves precise fit without requiring multiple patient visits to the dentist
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing oral devices using at-home dental impression kits are disclosed herein. An example method includes scheduling an at-home dental impression kit to be sent to a user that includes at least (i) one or more dental trays and (ii) one or more sets of dental putty that are configured to capture the gingiva of the user without distorting the gum lines of the user. The example method further includes scanning a first impression that is representative of the user's upper jaw, and a second impression that is representative of the user's lower jaw. The example method further includes generating a digital rendering of an oral device, and uploading the digital rendering to an application for viewing by the user. The example method further includes fabricating the oral device based upon digital rendering, and scheduling the oral device to be sent to the user.