Integrated Maxillary Expansion Device with Pre-Attached Mini-Screws
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current maxillary expansion devices require multiple sessions, laboratory procedures, and skilled practitioner involvement, leading to increased costs, time consumption, and risks of trauma and errors due to their complexity and reliance on precise anatomical placement.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising expander flat bodies with body locking holes, an extending screw, and mini-screws with compatible threads for direct fixation to the jawbone, allowing single-session application with guided placement using CB-CT or 3D scanning, eliminating the need for laboratory preparation and practitioner expertise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional bone-borne expansion devices with mini-screws are used, then anchorage into the bone is achieved, but the procedure requires multiple appointments, laboratory procedures, and skilled practitioner involvement, increasing time consumption and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the mini-screw anchorage system with the expansion device into a single integrated unit. The expansion device includes directly integrated mini-screws that can be inserted into the bone and activated in a single appointment, eliminating the need for separate laboratory procedures and multiple appointments required by traditional hybrid or bone-borne devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The mini-screws are pre-integrated into the expansion device body during manufacturing, with their positions and orientations predetermined. This preliminary integration eliminates the need for complex laboratory procedures to fabricate custom abutments and connectors, allowing direct clinical application in a single session.
2Reliability
If traditional expansion devices with separate abutments and fixation screws are used, then bone anchorage is achieved, but the device complexity and number of components increase, requiring laboratory preparation and multiple sessions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the abutment, fixation screw, and expansion device body into a single integrated structure. The mini-screws are directly formed as part of the expansion device, eliminating the need for separate abutments, connectors, and fixation screws that must be assembled in traditional devices.
Solution Approach 2:
While reducing overall complexity, the device maintains functional segmentation through the modular mini-screw design that can be independently positioned and activated, allowing the complex function of bone anchorage and expansion to be achieved through simpler, standardized components.
3Manufacturing precision
If precision impression materials and laboratory procedures are used for traditional devices, then accurate positioning is achieved, but material costs and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical impression-taking and laboratory casting system with a direct digital or surgical guide system. The mini-screws can be positioned using surgical guides or digital planning software, eliminating the need for precision impression materials, plaster casts, and laboratory fabrication processes.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating physical copies through impressions and casts, the patent uses digital models or surgical guides to replicate the desired positioning information, reducing material consumption while maintaining or improving positioning accuracy.
4Force
If multiple mini-screws are used for proper anchorage, then expansion force distribution is improved, but the precision required for placement increases, requiring greater practitioner experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple mini-screws into a single integrated expansion device body, allowing them to be positioned relative to each other in a single operation. This eliminates the need for multiple separate insertion procedures and reduces the cumulative difficulty of achieving precise angles and positions for each individual mini-screw.
Solution Approach 2:
The relative positions and orientations of multiple mini-screws are predetermined during device manufacturing, so the practitioner only needs to place the entire device as a unit rather than individually positioning each mini-screw, significantly reducing the skill and experience required.
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
Enables efficient, precise, and trauma-free maxillary expansion with reduced time and material costs, ensuring stable force transfer without deviation, and minimizing patient discomfort.
Implementation Method 1
the force applied by the expander needs to be transferred as it is to the abutments, to the mini-screws and ultimately to the bone
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device to be used in upper jaw expansion procedures in case of upper jaw narrowness and various cases where it is required to use the jaw bones for support in orthodontic treatments in the orthodontics field, which is a branch of dentistry.