Dentistry – Apparatus – Having intra-oral dispensing means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-13
2003-03-18
O'Connor, Cary E. (Department: 3732)
Dentistry
Apparatus
Having intra-oral dispensing means
C604S017000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06533579
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an intraoral diffusion type administration device incorporated in a dental restoration, particularly to a device incorporated in a dental restoration, such as a complete denture, a partial plate denture, and a mouthpiece, for gradually diffusing and administering a deodorant or aromatic for eliminating bad breath, a general drug, and/or a nutrient in a mouth. Moreover, the present invention relates to a dental restoration in which such device is incorporated.
Brushing, removal treatment of dental plaque or calculus, operation for periodontal disease or the like is usually carried out for prevention of bad breath or for mouth cleaning. A gargling agent is also possibly used for these purposes.
Most kinds of drugs and nutrients for medical care or health care are usually administered orally in the form of tablet or powder.
If the brushing, removal treatment of dental plaque or calculus, operation for periodontal disease or the like are carried out, clean state in a mouth will be kept providing no bad breath for the time being. However, the clean state in a mouth will not last long to cause bad breath again. Even if a gargling agent is used, its effect cannot be maintained for a long time.
Moreover, when a patient, in particular, an old person or a child take a drug or nutrient, he or she often feels hardness in the case of tablet, or coughs in the case of powder. Sometimes, the patient cries with aversion refusing it strongly from the first.
Furthermore, in many cases, the intake of a nutrient, a sweetener or the like tends to be excessive, which frequently leads to an adverse reaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device incorporated in a dental restoration for diffusing and administering a deodorant or aromatic for eliminating bad breath, a general drug, a sweetener or the like continuously, stably and smoothly without hardness and aversion, and to provide a dental restoration in which such device is incorporated.
In order to achieve the object, an intraoral diffusion type administration device incorporated in a removable dental restoration comprising: chambers disposed near openings of saliva glands in a human mouth for storing an administration material; permeable walls provided at said chambers; tubes having one ends connected to said chambers and having openings at predetermined positions; and shuttering means, provided at said walls and at said openings of said tubes, for shutting and opening them is provided according to the present invention.
Preferably, the walls are made of porous thin-film type semipermeable membrane. The walls should be physically strong and chemically stable, and harmless to tissues and organs in a mouth. Moreover, of course the administered material should be harmless to a human body.
It is preferable to dispose shuttering means (door, window, shutter, valve and the like) which can open when in use (not in eating and drinking) and close when not in use (in eating and drinking), resulting in the effective administration without loss. Removable shuttering means also may be used.
If a deodorant for eliminating bad breath is used as the administration material in the present invention, the effect can last long stably. Moreover, if an aromatic for “fresh” mouth is used in the present invention as the administration material, the effect can last long stably.
If a general drug in solid state (tablet or powder) is used for medical care as the administration material in the present invention, the drug is dissolved and diffused into a mouth, so that even an old person or child can take it naturally and smoothly without feeling hardness and coughing.
If a nutrient or a sweetener for health care is used as the administration material in the present invention, the intake thereof having a tendency to be excessive may be suppressed to a certain optimum amount.
The chamber is previously charged with the administration material in the form of solid, such as tablet and powder, or in the form of solution. Moreover, a colloidal material or a surface active agent may be used as the administration material. Furthermore, a cleaning agent for a dental restoration itself including the device of the present invention may be used as the administration material.
It is preferable that the positions of the permeable walls in a dental restoration are in the neighborhood of an opening of a saliva gland, because there is plenty of saliva permeable into the chamber.
The tubes may have some branches so that the administration material previously stored in the chamber could be dissolved in saliva permeable through the walls and that the resultant solution could be distributed and diffused widely in a mouth. Moreover, the tubes may have a plurality of openings at predetermined positions.
The dental restoration includes an apparatus for occlusal treatment, a mouth guard and a mouthpiece for sports or protection, as well as a complete denture and a partial plate denture.
The term “administration” used in this specification should not be restricted to the meaning that the administration material is sent through a mouth and is ingested by digestive organs. It also includes the meaning that the administration material (for example deodorant) acts in a mouth. Moreover, “permeability” generally means the action of a semipermeable membrane which is permeable by small particles and not by large ones, thus in the specification it means the action of being permeable by saliva but not permeable by the administration material.
In an intraoral diffusion type administration device according to the present invention, the chamber is previously charged with the administration material. Saliva in a mouth permeates the chamber through the walls by permeability of the walls, so that the administration material is wetted, dissolved and stored. The solution in the tube connected to the chamber has higher concentration near the chamber and lower concentration near the opening of the tube. The concentration gradient permits the solution of the administration material to be diffused from the opening of the tube into the mouth.
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Allen Dyer Doppelt Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A.
O'Connor Cary E.
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