Occlusal Splint for Weight Management via Chewing Mechanics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for combating obesity often involve invasive surgical interventions that alter digestive tract size or block food movement, leading to adverse effects such as organ damage and failure to correct underlying eating habits.
Innovation Solution
A medical device that slows down the chewing process by reducing the occlusal surface area of teeth, requiring more chewing movements and extending meal time, thereby promoting slow eating and a faster feeling of satiety without invasive procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If surgical intervention is used to reduce digestive tract size, then weight loss is achieved, but organ damage and invasive stress occur
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces an intermediary device (occlusal splint with reduced chewing surface) that mediates between the patient's eating habits and the digestive system. Instead of directly altering the digestive tract, the splint indirectly controls food intake by modifying chewing mechanics, thereby achieving weight loss without organ damage or invasive procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical surgical intervention (cutting, stapling, or constricting digestive organs) with a mechanical chewing aid (occlusal splint). The splint uses mechanical principles to reduce chewing efficiency, which naturally limits food intake without requiring invasive surgical procedures or risking organ damage.
2Volume of stationary object
If clips or bands are placed to constrict organs, then organ size is reduced, but natural function is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The occlusal splint enables the patient's own chewing mechanism to serve the therapeutic function of controlling food intake. Rather than using external devices (clips, bands) to constrict organs, the patient's reduced chewing capacity naturally limits the volume of food consumed, allowing digestive organs to maintain their natural function and size.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the weight control function from the digestive tract itself and relocates it to the oral cavity through the occlusal splint. By taking the food intake control mechanism out of the digestive system and placing it in the chewing apparatus, the natural function of digestive organs is preserved while still achieving weight management.
3Duration of action of moving object
If chewing surface area is reduced, then meal time is extended, but chewing performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The occlusal splint creates a dynamic chewing process where the reduced occlusal surface area necessitates more chewing movements to achieve adequate food breakdown. This dynamic adjustment of chewing mechanics automatically extends meal time and reduces food intake volume, transforming the chewing process from a rapid mechanical action to a controlled, extended process that promotes satiety.
Data Source
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AI summary
Medical device for combating overweight or obesity in humans by achieving a faster feeling of satiety, comprising a splint (12) connectable to the human maxilla (10) and a splint (12) connectable to the human mandible (11), each adapted to the crowns of the teeth and covering at least a portion of the occlusal surface of the occlusal teeth (13) for the purpose of increasing the bite (20), the splint (12) of the maxilla and mandible (10, 11) providing at least a portion of the occlusal teeth (13) with an occlusal elevation (14) for reducing the occlusal surface (15), the occlusal elevation (14) being designed such that the grooves (16) of the occlusal surface (15) are at least partially or completely filled, thereby providing a quasi-planar occlusal surface as the occlusal plane (18) by the occlusal elevation (14),which also overlays the cusp tips (17) of an occlusal tooth (13) to link the increase in bite height (20) with a spanning of the occlusal relief of the covered occlusal tooth (13).