Teeth Illumination Device With Light Guide And Out-Coupling Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Oral care devices, such as teeth whitening devices, face challenges in achieving uniform light intensity distribution and minimizing tooth heating while maintaining high intensity, which is crucial for effective teeth whitening and hygiene without causing damage.
Innovation Solution
A mouthpiece design featuring a slab-shaped light guide with an optically transparent element of lower refractive index for total internal reflection and an out-coupling structure to redirect light, ensuring uniform intensity distribution and reducing heat generation through reflective elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If high intensity light is used for teeth whitening, then whitening effectiveness is improved, but tooth heating increases causing potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide is divided into multiple segments or zones along its length, with each segment capable of independent light emission or different light intensities. This segmentation allows the system to deliver high total light intensity for effective whitening while distributing the thermal load across multiple smaller light sources rather than concentrating it in a single high-power source, thereby reducing peak tooth heating.
2Illumination intensity
If light intensity is increased for effective whitening, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but uniformity of light distribution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide incorporates varying optical properties at different locations along its length. Specifically, the refractive index, absorption coefficient, or scattering properties are locally adjusted to compensate for natural light intensity variations. This ensures that even though the overall light intensity is high for effective whitening, the distribution remains uniform across all teeth surfaces.
3Manufacturing precision
If complex optical structures are used to improve light uniformity, then light distribution uniformity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex mechanical or structural modifications to achieve uniform light distribution, the invention changes optical parameters such as the refractive index profile, absorption characteristics, or emission wavelength distribution along the light guide. These parameter variations can be achieved through material composition changes or gradient indexing during manufacturing, providing uniform light distribution without adding mechanical complexity to the device structure.
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 design achieves improved uniformity of light intensity and reduced tooth heating, enhancing the effectiveness and safety of teeth whitening and hygiene processes.
Implementation Method 1
the optically transparent element has a lower refractive index than the at least one slab shaped light guide to enable total internal refection of the injected light at the one or more contact locations
Implementation Method 2
an out-coupling structure arranged to redirect incident light in each light guide at a part of the second surface to enable transmission of at least a part of the redirected light through the first surface into the optically transparent element
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a mouthpiece (100) for illumination of teeth, e.g. for teeth whitening. The mouthpiece comprises a slab shaped light guide (203), at least one light source arranged for injecting light into the light guide and an optically transparent element (101) arranged to contact the light guide. The optically transparent element has a lower refractive index than the light guide to enable total internal refection of the injected light. Light is coupled out of the light guide by an out-coupling structure (210) and through a part of the optically transparent part located between the light guide and the buccal side of the teeth to illuminated the teeth with uniform light.