Partial Arch Mouth Guard with Thermoplastic Custom Fit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mouth guards fail to effectively prevent teeth grinding during sleep, leading to undesirable wear and jaw-related issues like TMJ problems, and are often poorly fitted due to variations in human jaw anatomy.
Innovation Solution
A partial arch mouth guard with a flexible, rigid plastic tray and thermoplastic impression material that custom-fits by molding around incisors and canines, concentrating force transmission to the front incisors to prevent grinding and reduce TMJ issues, regardless of canine spacing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a full arch tray is used to custom mold to teeth, then manufacturing precision is improved, but adaptability deteriorates due to variations in canine spacing
Solution Approach 1:
The full arch tray is divided into two separate partial arch trays, each designed to fit specific tooth regions (anterior and posterior segments). This segmentation allows each tray to be independently adjusted and modified to accommodate variations in canine spacing and individual dental anatomy, while maintaining precise custom molding capability for each segment.
2Strength
If a rigid plastic tray is used to prevent teeth grinding, then strength is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in custom fitting
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid plastic tray incorporates thermoplastic material that changes its physical parameters (becomes soft and pliable) when exposed to heat from hot water. This parameter change allows the tray to be easily molded to the user's teeth by simply placing it in hot water, then returns to its rigid state upon cooling, providing both ease of custom fitting and sufficient strength for grinding prevention.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a full arch tray is used to cover all teeth, then protection coverage is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the problematic posterior sections of the full arch tray, retaining only the essential anterior partial arch tray that covers the incisors and canines. This extraction eliminates the complexity associated with accommodating wide variations in posterior tooth spacing and morphology, while maintaining adequate protection coverage for the most critical grinding areas.
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
The mouth guard effectively prevents teeth grinding and reduces TMJ and jaw-related problems by custom-fitting and concentrating occlusion force to the front incisors, accommodating variations in jaw anatomy and providing relief from involuntary occlusion.
Implementation Method 1
the dental impression material is polycapralactone which becomes pliable at an elevated temperature of about 135° Fahrenheit or higher. The impression material, however, sets and retains its shape at a human body temperature of about 100° Fahrenheit.
Implementation Method 2
once the impression material has set, the impression material frictionally retains the tray in position in the mouth during use.
Data Source
AI summary
A mouth guard for a human adult which minimizes or eliminates teeth grinding. The mouth guard includes a tray having an arcuate trough opening at each end and dimensioned to receive at least the bicuspids of the human adult. The tray is constructed of a rigid plastic material. A dental impression material is disposed in the tray so that a portion of the impression material extends outwardly from each end of the tray by an amount sufficient to cover the canines or first bicuspids of the human adult when the tray is positioned over the bicuspids.