Modular Dental Arch Bar with Movable Arms for Intermaxillary Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for intermaxillary fixation, such as arch bars and screw systems, are time-consuming, cause puncture risks for clinicians, and may not provide satisfactory fixation in edentulous or partially edentulous patients, with uneven tension distribution and potential for premature contacts or open bites.
Innovation Solution
A dental arch bar system that conforms to the dental arch, with movable transverse arms and ligature connectors, allowing secure attachment to the maxilla or mandible without wires, using fasteners like bone screws, and interconnecting ligatures for stable fixation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If arch bars are secured to teeth using wires looped around teeth or direct bonding, then intermaxillary fixation is achieved, but the procedure is time-consuming and causes puncture injuries to clinicians
Solution Approach 1:
The arch bar is divided into modular components: a body portion with multiple receptacles, each receptacle designed to receive individual fasteners. This segmentation allows for efficient attachment to multiple teeth simultaneously, reducing installation time while maintaining secure fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
Fasteners serve as intermediary elements between the arch bar and teeth. The fasteners thread through the fastener openings in the body portion and secure to the teeth, eliminating the need for clinicians to directly manipulate wires around teeth, thus reducing puncture injuries while maintaining fixation reliability.
2Reliability
If conventional arch bars with lugs or hooks are used, then intermaxillary fixation is provided, but the procedure is time-consuming and can cause puncture injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The traditional lugs or hooks are extracted and replaced with a streamlined body portion featuring integrated fastener openings. This design eliminates the need for separate ligature application steps, making the procedure easier and faster to perform while maintaining secure intermaxillary fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The functions of the arch bar body, fastener attachment points, and ligature connectors are merged into a single integrated structure. The body portion includes both fastener openings for tooth attachment and ligature connectors for intermaxillary connection, simplifying the overall procedure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If arch bars are used in edentulous or partially edentulous patients, then fixation is attempted, but satisfactory fixation cannot be provided
Solution Approach 1:
The arch bar design is universal and can be adapted to various patient conditions including edentulous and partially edentulous cases. The multiple receptacles allow flexible configuration to attach to available teeth or bone structures, maintaining reliable fixation across different clinical scenarios.
4Reliability
If screws are placed directly into maxilla and mandible with ligatures, then fixation is achieved, but tension is applied across discrete points causing uneven distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The arch bar distributes tension across multiple dimensions by spanning across multiple teeth or attachment points simultaneously. Instead of discrete point attachments, the extended body portion with multiple receptacles creates a distributed attachment system that evenly distributes forces across the maxilla or mandible.
5Reliability
If wires are used to traverse the jaws for maxillomandibular fixation, then fixation is provided, but wires can stretch causing teeth to slide and compromise fixation
Solution Approach 1:
The arch bar provides a rigid curved structure that maintains its shape and does not stretch. This rigid framework maintains stable spacing and alignment between upper and lower teeth, preventing the sliding that occurs with stretchable wires while providing reliable fixation.
6Reliability
If circumdental wire fixation is used to secure arch bars to teeth, then attachment is achieved, but periodontal injury occurs and anesthesia is required
Solution Approach 1:
Fasteners act as intermediaries that attach to the teeth at the crown level through the arch bar structure, rather than requiring wires to pass through the periodontal tissue. This eliminates direct trauma to the periodontium and removes the need for anesthesia while maintaining secure attachment.
Data Source
AI summary
A dental arch bar system includes upper and lower dental arch bars having movable transverse arms and ligature connectors. Fasteners secure the transverse arms to a subject's maxilla and mandible. Ligatures are secured around upper and lower ligature connectors to achieve intermaxillary fixation. A method is also disclosed for using the arch bar system to achieve intermaxillary fixation by securing the arch bars against opposing dental arches with ligature connectors of the upper and lower arch bar generally aligned. In some embodiments, a single dental arch bar is utilized and one or more ligature connectors (such as screws) are fixed directly in the bone of the opposite jaw. Ligatures then are secured to arch bar ligature connectors and the opposing ligature connectors.