Rubber dam clamp

Details Rubber dam clamp Rubber dam clamp

1995-09-26

1998-02-03

O'Connor, Cary E.

Dentistry

Apparatus

Having absorption means or means to isolate tooth or mouth...

A61C 512

Patent

active

057137374

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a rubber dam clamp, that is to say a clamp which is used by dentists as an aid for securing a so-called rubber dam sheet on the teeth and which for this purpose has a pair of gripping claws, intended to engage against a tooth neck, and a resilient bridge which connects the gripping claws.


BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The purpose of the rubber dam sheet is to isolate the field of operation on the teeth from saliva, blood and respiratory air, but also to prevent chemicals, filling material etc. from coming into contact with mucous membranes and the throat. Rubber dams have been used at least since the 1920s, and most of the associated aids have changed little since then. The rubber dam clamps which are used to secure the sheet on the teeth have hitherto been made of metal and are available in a large number of sizes and shapes. They consist of a single or double resilient bridge and of gripping claws which will engage against the tooth neck and which for this purpose are shaped in accordance with the anatomy of the tooth necks. The clamps are stiff and must be applied and removed using special forceps, with points, which are fitted into forceps sockets in the form of holes in the area of the gripping claws.
The rubber dam clamps made of metal have a number of disadvantages. In addition to the fact that they are relatively expensive and to a large extent absorb X-radiation, it should also be noted that considerable force is required when applying and removing them, they are felt to be uncomfortable by the patients ("iron grip"), and the metal edges cause a greater or lesser amount of damage to the tooth necks. When the clamps are stretched out to a large degree, the fixture holes for the forceps are often positioned obliquely in relation to the jaws of the forceps, with the result that it can be extremely difficult to remove the forceps and even more difficult to stick the points of the forceps into the holes when the clamp is to be removed.


BRIEF DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages and at the same time to offer further advantages, and this can be achieved by virtue of the fact that the invention is characterized by what is stated in the patent claims which follow.
It is expedient that the basic shape of the rubber dam clamp according to the invention should correspond to that of conventional rubber dam clamps made of metal so that it will be compatible with existing rubber dam forceps and other aids. However, the use of fibre-reinforced plastic, which is proposed preferably as the material for the rubber dam clamps in place of metal, affords considerable possibilities for variations in the design. Thus, the clamp can and should be given varying material thickness in different parts of the clamp in order thereby to obtain an optimal combination of spring power, manageability, gripping capacity etc. To this end, the bridge is preferably given a greater material thickness than, for example, the claws.
By means of a suitable material distribution it is also possible, in accordance with a preferred embodiment, to make the clamp more elongate than conventional rubber dam clamps made of metal, as a result of which the rubber dam sheet can be better held away distally from the tooth, so that the dentist has more room for the instruments.
In addition to closed sockets in the form of holes for the rubber dam forceps, or as an alternative to these, open sockets for the forceps are arranged, according to the invention, on the inner side of transition areas between the bridge and each gripping claw. These open sockets for the forceps can comprise parts of the said transition areas, the surface against which the forceps are pressed in the respective forceps socket extending in a plane which is essentially at right angles with respect to a base plane, which is defined by the inner edge of the gripping claws. More specifically, these open sockets for the forceps are expediently given the form of groove-shaped

REFERENCES:
patent: 1532821 (1925-04-01), Ivory
patent: 4265623 (1981-05-01), Soelberg et al.
patent: 4661063 (1987-04-01), Levy
patent: 4787849 (1988-11-01), Jacoby et al.

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