Dentistry – Apparatus – Tooth selection guide
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-14
2001-11-13
O'Connor, Cary E. (Department: 3732)
Dentistry
Apparatus
Tooth selection guide
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315554
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is a shade guide for selecting a tooth restoration esthetic and for providing a recipe to achieve the selected esthetic. More particularly, the invention relates to a shade guide having a plurality of tooth specimens having different shade characteristics, and a shade recipe reference for each shade characteristic. Specifically, the shade recipe reference provides a coded foundation layer (opacious dentin), a body layer (regular dentin) and an enamel layer (translucent layer), which together produce the selected shade characteristic. The invention also relates to a method of selecting a shade characteristic.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Dental restoratives are well known in the art. The term “restorative” encompasses for example, bridges, inlays, onlays, veneers, filling materials, composite materials, entire artificial teeth and the like. When a tooth is damaged, it is desirable not only to restore the tooth to a useful state by using the appropriate restorative and restorative technique, but also to match the restored tooth to approximate the original tooth's color or shade characteristics. This is primarily for esthetic concerns.
Because of the desire to match the original tooth shade characteristics, or those of the surrounding teeth, it has been common practice to provide materials that will change the shade of the restorative to match the desired quality. It has also been a common practice to use a shade guide having a number of tabs, teeth or other indicia showing a given color. Once the shade has been chosen, the shade guide references a mix of materials to achieve the desired shade. The dental practitioner then prepares the restorative with the given shade and applies it according to the conventional technique.
It has been found however, that natural teeth are not simply one shade of material. The tooth tends to have varying shades, translucency and opacity throughout its structure. Therefore, the previous methods of restoring a tooth have proven to be deficient with respect to shade characteristics. Further, no shade guide has heretofore existed which can be employed to more accurately match the varying shade characteristics of natural teeth.
A need exists therefore, for a shade matching system that will more closely approximate the varying shade characteristics of natural teeth. A need also exists for an efficient means of selecting a shade that is more true to the shade qualities of natural teeth.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a shade guide.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a shade guide that can be used to select a shade characteristic.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a shade guide wherein the recipe for a given restorative is contained on the shade guide itself.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a shade guide which contains a recipe taking into account at least the foundation (opacious) layer quality, the body (regular dentin) layer quality and the enamel (translucent) layer quality so as to achieve a selected restorative shade.
These and other objects of the invention, together with the advantages thereof, will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following description and the attached drawings.
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Coste Andrew J.
Durst Lisa
Sang Junjie
Wang Xiuling
Bieber James B.
Dentsply Research & Development Corp.
Hura Douglas J.
O'Connor Cary E.
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