Dentistry – Orthodontics – Means to transmit or apply force to tooth
Patent
1995-11-13
1997-05-27
O'Connor, Cary E.
Dentistry
Orthodontics
Means to transmit or apply force to tooth
A61C 300
Patent
active
056326181
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of overbite, said apparatus comprising at either side of a user's mouth a first band on the front premolars in the lower jaw and a second band on the front molars in the upper jaw, said first and second bands being connected by a rod consisting of an insertion part which may telescopically slide into a receiving part, whereby said insertion part and said receiving part are pivotably mounted on said first and second band, respectively, and said receiving part being provided with a tube designed to receive a rod on the insertion part.
The invention also relates to a method for assembling the apparatus.
Many people suffer from overbite meaning that the lower jaw is short relative to the upper jaw so that when biting the incisors of the lower jaw cannot meet the incisors of the upper jaw in the correct manner with the sharp edges of the incisors against each other in an edge to edge position. Instead the sharp edges of the incisors of the lower jaw will rest a longer or shorter distance to the rear in the user's mouth relative to the corresponding edges of the incisors of the upper part of the mouth.
In order to remedy this disorder there may be used various forms of apparatuses or devices which can exert pressure between the lower and the upper jaws so that the lower jaw is forced forwards relative to the upper jaw. When exerted to such pressure, the lower jaw is made to grow in such a direction that the overbite will be reduced and finally be fully adjusted. This applies not only to children and young people, but also to mature people.
An apparatus of this kind is a socalled Herbst apparatus, which is a fixed apparatus comprising telescopic rods extending from the front molars of the upper jaw to the front premolars of the lower jaw. At the beginning of the treatment the telescopic rods are designed to have such a length that the lower jaw will be pressed forwards to take an edge to edge position.
The rods are telescopically designed so that they will extend when the mouth is opened, whereas when the mouth is closed they are fully nested within each other to be capable of exerting the required displacement pressure on the lower jaw. The individual parts of the telescopic rods are of course proportioned so that they cannot come apart when the mouth is fully opened.
During the active treatment period of 6-10 months it is necessary to change the telescopic rods so that the lengths thereof in the fully nested position are extended stepwise to compensate for the gradual extension of the lower jaw, when this grows forward as intended by the treatment.
The telescopic rods must therefore be removable to permit a replacement of same without an extremely difficult dismounting of the bands on the teeth.
By the known apparatus the ends of the telescopic rods are therefore secured at either side of the user's mouth by means of screws to the bands around the respective teeth.
By unscrewing the screws a first set of telescopic rods may be replaced by a second set of telescopic rods which in their fully nested position are longer than the first set.
This structure is disadvantageous in that the screws, when in use, may loosen and finally fall off the respective bands around the teeth making the apparatus inoperative while at the same time risking that the user will swallow a stray screw or be hurt by the free end of the respective telescopic rod hitting the palate or other inner faces within the mouth when the mouth is closed. From WO 90/11731 an apparatus as initially described is known where each end of the telescopic rod is pivotably hold on a shaft and secured on said shaft by an arch wire which is inserted in an opening next to the free end of said shaft.
According to WO 92/19174 the free ends of the telescopic rod comprise ball cups receiving corresponding ball heads in a snap fit relation, said ball heads being mounted on molar bands.
Instead of replacing the set of telescopic rods, it has been tried to squeeze together small metal strips around the insertion pa
REFERENCES:
patent: 4462800 (1984-07-01), Jones
patent: 4795342 (1989-01-01), Jones
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