Digitally Printed Mandibular Advancement Device with Elastic Attachments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing oral mandibular repositioners for snoring and sleep apnea are often bulky, uncomfortable, and require costly custom fabrication, leading to patient noncompliance and health issues associated with snoring such as hypertension and sleep disruptions.
Innovation Solution
A digitally printed anti-snoring dental device featuring unitary upper and lower appliances with specialized attachments and elastics, allowing for comfortable wear without the need for dental bite registration, enabling easy replacement and adjustment, and promoting open airway alignment through gentle mandible advancement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If custom fabricated oral appliances are used to treat snoring and sleep apnea, then the device can provide effective airway repositioning, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance is divided into two separate unitary components: an upper appliance and a lower appliance. Each appliance is independently fabricated using 3D printing technology, eliminating the need for complex custom fabrication processes. The segmentation allows for standardized production while maintaining custom fit through digital scanning and printing, thereby reducing manufacturing cost and complexity while preserving airway repositioning effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses 3D printing technology to change the manufacturing parameters from traditional custom fabrication processes. By utilizing digital scanning and additive manufacturing, the appliance can be produced with precise dimensional control and customized geometry without requiring expensive dental laboratory processes, thus reducing manufacturing cost and complexity while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
2Reliability
If traditional oral mandibular repositioners are used, then airway repositioning can be achieved, but the devices become bulky and uncomfortable leading to patient noncompliance
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the appliance into upper and lower components, each can be minimized in size and optimized for comfort in its specific location. The unitary construction of each component eliminates the need for bulky connecting structures, allowing for a more streamlined and comfortable design that patients are more likely to wear consistently.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliances utilize thin-walled 3D printed structures that provide the necessary structural support for airway repositioning while maintaining flexibility and comfort. The thin film design reduces bulkiness and allows for better tissue conformity, improving patient comfort and compliance without compromising the airway repositioning function.
3Ease of operation
If custom appliances with swivels or hinges are used to allow jaw movement, then temporomandibular joint comfort is improved, but the device complexity and fitting expertise required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The separation into upper and lower appliances eliminates the need for complex connecting mechanisms like swivels or hinges. Each appliance independently remains in place through suction and adhesion, allowing natural jaw movement without mechanical constraints. This segmentation simplifies the overall device structure and reduces the fitting expertise required while maintaining jaw movement freedom.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes the complex mechanical connecting structures (swivels, hinges) from the appliance design. By relying on the suction and adhesion properties of the 3D printed materials, the device achieves jaw movement freedom without requiring any mechanical joints, thereby reducing device complexity and fitting requirements.
4Ease of manufacture
If digital printing technology is used to fabricate appliances, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but the need for dental bite registration and professional fitting is eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The appliances are designed to be self-retaining through suction and adhesion mechanisms built into the 3D printed structure. This self-service design eliminates the need for professional dental fitting and adjustment, allowing patients to independently insert and wear the appliances. The digital printing process inherently provides sufficient precision for functional fit without requiring traditional bite registration procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical bite registration system with a digital scanning and printing system. Instead of using physical bite records and manual fabrication, the entire process is digitized, allowing for direct digital-to-physical conversion. This substitution maintains manufacturing precision while eliminating the need for complex mechanical fitting procedures and reducing overall manufacturing complexity.
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 device provides a comfortable, compliant solution for mild to moderate snoring, preventing airway obstruction and reducing snoring and sleep apnea symptoms without the need for frequent dental visits, while allowing for easy replacement and minimizing temporomandibular joint issues.
Implementation Method 1
at least one elastic attached to the upper right specialized attachment and to the lower right specialized attachment; and at least one elastic attached to the upper left specialized attachment and to the lower right specialized attachment
Data Source
AI summary
A digitally-printed anti-snoring dental device is provided. The device includes a unitary upper appliance comprising an upper tray, an upper right specialized attachment and an upper left specialized attachment; a unitary lower appliance comprising a lower tray, a lower right specialized attachment and a lower left specialized attachment; at least one elastic attached to the upper right specialized attachment and to the lower right specialized attachment; and at least one elastic attached to the upper left specialized attachment and to the lower right specialized attachment. Each of the upper right specialized attachment, the upper left specialized attachment, the lower right specialized attachment, and the lower left specialized attachment includes an open ball hook configured to retain the at least one elastic thereon.