Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – Dental shaping type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-29
2001-12-25
Tentoni, Leo B. (Department: 1732)
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
Dental shaping type
C249S054000, C249S083000, C249S142000, C249S166000, C264S019000, C264S221000, C264S222000, C425S002000, C425S127000, C433S034000, C433S167000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332991
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a container and a method for cross-linking composite materials on dental crowns, bridges and arches, particularly for use with photopolymerizing lamps.
More particularly, the invention relates to a container and to a method for modeling teeth in the field of prosthodontics.
BACKGROUND ART
It is known that the following method is used in order to perform the cross-linking of dental bridges, crowns or entire arches meant to replace missing teeth of a patient:
the dental surgeon prepares pillars (filed natural or artificial teeth) which support the entire prosthesis;
then takes the impression (in silicone or other material) and gives it to the prosthodontics laboratory;
the dental technician pours plaster into the impression so as to obtain the model on which the prosthesis is to be built;
the metallic supporting structure is then prepared on the model (which represents the mouth of the patient).
A photopolymerizable composite material is applied directly to the metallic structure that constitutes the support for the teeth forming the dental prosthesis to be produced; said material is modeled manually in order to produce the correct shape and size of the individual teeth composing the prosthesis.
This manual treatment of the composite material, besides being extremely difficult from the practical point of view since the composite material can sometimes be very hard and therefore requiring highly specialized personnel, is considerably expensive in terms of time and costs.
In order to model a prosthesis which is constituted for example by a single tooth or by a pair of teeth, i.e., a prosthesis that covers a limited portion of the dental arch, this drawback can be obviated by providing a plaster template which is used to shape the composite material.
This solution, however, is not applicable if a prosthesis is to be obtained that covers a considerable extent of the dental arch, since the plaster pattern must adhere and be shaped according to the metallic supporting structure but its rigidity prevents it from doing so.
A partial solution to this problem might consist in providing the plaster pattern in two or three parts, but it has been observed that in this case it is very difficult to adjust each part of the plaster pattern with the same pressure and in the same position in order to achieve correct shaping of the composite material.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to provide a container for molding teeth which allows to model both individual teeth and very extensive bridges or entire dental arches by using the container itself as a mold.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a container for molding teeth previously modeled in wax instead of directly using the composite material on the metallic supporting structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container for molding teeth which can be exposed directly to photopolymerizing light.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container for modeling teeth which allows to quickly correct any errors in color or characterization.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container for modeling teeth which ensures a quality of the finished work which is equal to, or better than, the conventional manual method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for molding teeth which allows to use a specifically provided modeling container which can be exposed to photopolymerizing light.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tooth molding method which allows to obtain a mold of the wax model which can be tested directly in the patient's mouth so as to allow to easily correct any imprecisions thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container and a method for molding teeth which are highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and at low costs.
This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a container for cross-linking composite materials on dental bridges and arches and on individual teeth, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of plate-like elements which can be stacked and clamped together, at least one of said plate-like elements, which is internal to said plurality of plate-like elements, being constituted by a plurality of blocks which can be removed independently of each other to form an area which is suitable to constitute a mold into which it is possible to place a metal structure wherefrom a dental prosthesis is to be obtained, said at least one of said plate-like elements and a plate-like element that is adjacent thereto in an upward region and constitutes the top plate-like element of said container being both made of a material which is transparent to light.
This aim is also achieved by a method for cross-linking composite materials on teeth of bridges and dental arches by means of a container, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
applying wax to a metallic supporting structure for a tooth, bridge or entire dental arch and manually modeling the wax so as to reconstruct the shape of the intended teeth;
inserting said metal structure, with modeled wax applied thereto, in said container;
injecting transparent silicone into said container, so as to surround said wax-covered metallic structure, embedding said structure in the silicone;
mutually clamping the plate-like elements constituting said container in order to compress said transparent silicone and make it adhere to the wax that covers said metallic structure, so that said silicone, by curing, assumes the shape of the modeled wax, obtaining the mold;
opening said container, removing the wax from said metallic structure and filling with composite materials the space freed by the removal of said wax; and
placing said metallic structure, with the composite material on it, back into said container and exposing said container to a photopolymerization machine in order to cure said composite materials and produce the intended prosthesis.
REFERENCES:
patent: 513 972 (1954-05-01), None
patent: 40 05 570A1 (1991-08-01), None
patent: 40 28 728A1 (1992-03-01), None
patent: 2 280 358 (1976-02-01), None
Assi Silvia
Tissi Antonio
Assi Silvia
Josif Albert
Modiano Guido
O'Byrne Daniel
Tentoni Leo B.
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