Silicone Dental Appliance With Hibernating Catalyst
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Solution Overview
Problem
Custom-fit dental arch appliances require extensive time and labor due to the limited working time of formable materials, often missing minute details and requiring additional tools for finishing, making them more expensive and less efficient than pre-formed or boil-and-bite types.
Innovation Solution
The use of uncured silicone with a hibernating catalyst that is activated by external influences, such as moisture or heat, allowing for extended working time to capture detailed impressions and final shapes without premature curing, using either tin or platinum catalyzation processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional formable materials with active catalysts are used, then the material cures quickly providing limited working time, but this limits the ability to capture minute details and requires additional finishing tools
Solution Approach 1:
The catalyst is pre-incorporated into the silicone material in a hibernating state during manufacturing, allowing the material to remain workable for extended periods. The catalyst is activated only after the material has been formed and positioned, enabling充分的 working time to capture minute details without premature curing.
2Reliability
If traditional active catalysts are used, then curing occurs during the working process, but this requires additional tools like cutters and grinders increasing labor and time
Solution Approach 1:
The catalyst is prepared and embedded in the silicone material in advance in an inactive state. The material can be fully formed and positioned before activation. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for post-curing tools like cutters and grinders, as the material remains pliable throughout the entire forming process.
3Manufacturing precision
If custom-fit appliances are fabricated using traditional methods, then precise conformance is achieved, but the fabrication process is time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical state of the catalyst from active to hibernating, fundamentally altering the curing timeline. This parameter change allows the material to maintain its workable state throughout the entire fabrication process, enabling precise custom-fitting without the time constraints that previously limited productivity.
4Productivity
If pre-formed mouth guards are used, then manufacturing is simple and fast, but they cannot be reshaped to achieve precise conformance to individual teeth
Solution Approach 1:
The silicone material with hibernating catalyst serves multiple functions: it can be mass-produced in advance (like pre-formed guards) and yet remains fully reworkable (like custom-fit materials) until catalyst activation. This multi-functionality allows the material to be manufactured efficiently while maintaining the ability to achieve precise individual conformance.
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 the fabrication of custom-fit silicone dental arch appliances with improved efficiency and detail capture, reducing production time and labor while maintaining a better finished product quality compared to traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
a catalyst, comprising one of a tin-based catalyst and a platinum-based catalyst, which is hibernating within the silicone and which when awakened from hibernation by an external influence will be effective to cause the uncured silicone to begin to cure by catalytic action
Implementation Method 2
The external environmental triggers for the respective formulations differ and each process may have certain advantages over the other. Curing by tin catalyzation is triggered by exposure to a moist atmosphere
Implementation Method 3
Curing by platinum catalyzation occurs at elevating the temperature of the material using a heat source. With appropriate heating, the silicone can cure quickly and without generating volatile byproducts.
Data Source
AI summary
A pre-packaged mixture of uncured silicone and a hibernating catalyst, either a tin-based catalyst or a platinum-based catalyst, is shipped from a manufacturer to an end user for use in fabricating a silicone dental arch appliance.