TWI869179B - Sustained Release Braces - Google Patents

Abstract

A slow-release brace includes a brace body and a tooth groove unit. The brace body includes a bottom wall curved in a dental arch, an inner side wall extending from an inner side edge of the bottom wall along a first direction orthogonal to the bottom wall, an outer side wall extending from an outer side edge of the bottom wall along the first direction, and a plurality of protrusions arranged on the inner side wall. The inner side wall, the outer side wall, and the bottom wall together define an internal space, and the inner side wall has a plurality of openings formed downward from a side edge of the inner side wall opposite to the bottom wall. The protrusions are located in the internal space and adjacent to the tooth groove unit. The tooth groove unit has a plurality of tooth grooves formed downward from the bottom wall and connected to the internal space, and the tooth grooves are respectively located at the two ends of the bottom wall.

Description

Sustained release braces

The present invention relates to a dental brace, in particular to a dental brace for improving the effect of oral products.

As modern people pay more and more attention to health issues, many people have developed the habit of taking health foods or medicines regularly to maintain their health. Among them, some health foods contain bacteria that are used to improve the status of the flora inside the oral cavity. For example, in 2020, Sengupta and Desai et al. [J Conserv Dent.23(6),619-623(2020)] mentioned that the number of caries bacteria in the oral cavity can be reduced by taking a tablet containing oral probiotics to reduce the occurrence of caries.

However, if the health food containing these strains stays in the oral cavity for too short a time, the effect of these strains will be less than expected. If the health food is held in the oral cavity for a longer time, the tablets themselves have a certain hardness and must be held in the oral cavity for a period of time before they dissolve in the oral cavity. It is easy to cause choking due to accidental swallowing, which may cause damage to the esophagus or potential suffocation risk.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a sustained-release mouthpiece to prolong the residence time of health food or medicine in the oral cavity to enhance the effect of taking it.

Therefore, the slow-release braces of the present invention include a brace body and a tooth groove unit.

The brace body includes a bottom wall that is curved in the shape of a dental arch and has a top surface, an inner side wall extending from an inner side edge of the bottom wall along a first direction orthogonal to the top surface, and an outer side wall extending from an outer side edge of the bottom wall along the first direction. The inner side wall, the outer side wall, and the bottom wall together define an internal space. The inner side wall has a plurality of openings formed on a side of the inner side wall away from the bottom wall.

The tooth groove unit has a plurality of tooth grooves formed downward from the top surface of the bottom wall and connected to the internal space, and the tooth grooves are respectively located at the two ends of the bottom wall.

The efficacy of the present invention is that the slow-release mouthpiece is fitted on the upper teeth of a user, and the saliva formed by the user flows from the openings into the internal space and the tooth grooves, and mixes with a bacterial powder contained therein, so that the saliva mixed with the bacterial powder can fully connect with the user's back teeth, and finally flow into the user's mouth from the two ends of the bottom wall. The use of the slow-release mouthpiece helps to prolong the time that the bacterial powder stays in the user's oral cavity, and can also avoid swallowing too much bacterial powder at one time, causing the drug effect of the bacterial powder to be released too quickly. In addition, the use of the slow-release mouthpiece can also prevent the user from choking or swallowing into the respiratory tract due to accidental swallowing.

2: Braces body

21: Bottom wall

211: Top

22: Medial wall

221: Open your mouth

23: Outer wall

231: Gap

24: Internal space

25: convex part

3: Tooth unit

31: Tooth groove

X: First direction

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the implementation method with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figures 1 and 2 are three-dimensional schematic diagrams illustrating an embodiment of the slow-release braces of the present invention.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that similar components are represented by the same number in the following description. In addition, it should be noted that the drawings of the present invention only represent the relative relationship between the structure and/or position of the components and are not related to the actual size of each component.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an embodiment of the sustained-release braces of the present invention is used to fit on the upper teeth of a user to assist the user in taking an oral product (such as a health food or a medicine), and the oral product can be in the form of powder, liquid or emulsion. In this embodiment, the sustained-release braces is made of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) and has good chemical resistance and wear resistance. The sustained-release braces includes a braces body 2 and a tooth groove unit 3.

The brace body 2 includes a bottom wall 21 curved in the shape of a dental arch, an inner wall 22, an outer wall 23, and a plurality of protrusions 25.

The bottom wall 21 has a top surface 211. The inner wall 22 is formed by extending from an inner side edge of the bottom wall 21 along a first direction X orthogonal to the top surface 211, and has a plurality of openings 221 formed on the inner wall 22 away from a side of the bottom wall 21. In this embodiment, the inner wall 22 has two openings 221 formed downward from a top edge of the inner wall 22 opposite to the bottom wall 21, and the openings 221 are arranged away from the two ends of the inner wall 22 as an example for explanation, but the formation positions of the openings 221 are not limited to the aforementioned examples, as long as the user's saliva can flow from the openings 221 into the brace body 2.

The outer wall 23 extends from an outer side edge of the bottom wall 21 along the first direction X, and extends in the same direction as the inner wall 22. The outer wall 23 has a notch 231 formed downward from a top edge of the outer wall 23 opposite to the bottom wall 21, which is used to increase the elastic deformation of the brace body 2 and provide a stress buffer space when the brace body 2 is bent. In this embodiment, the notch 231 is located at the center of the outer wall 23, and the two openings 221 are formed on both sides of the notch 231. Preferably, the height of the inner wall 22 is not greater than the height of the outer wall 23, so that the brace body 2 can fit the upper teeth of the user better.

The inner wall 22, the outer wall 23, and the bottom wall 21 together define an inner space 24 for placing the oral product. The protrusions 25 are located in the inner space 24 and are arranged at intervals on the inner wall 22 to increase the contact area between the brace body 2 and the user's teeth, delay the flow of the user's saliva into the oral cavity, and increase the clamping ability between the brace body 2 and the user's teeth. The protrusions 25 are in the shape of long strips and extend along the first direction X, and are arranged adjacent to the tooth groove unit 3.

The tooth groove unit 3 has a plurality of tooth grooves 31 formed downward from the top surface 211 of the bottom wall 21 and connected to the internal space 24, and the tooth grooves 31 are respectively located at the two ends of the bottom wall 21, for fitting the user's molars, for placing the oral product, and delaying the user's saliva from flowing into the oral cavity. Preferably, the tooth grooves 31 are arranged corresponding to the positions of the first molar to the third molar of the user.

When in use, a bacterial powder (such as oral probiotic powder) is placed as the oral product into the internal space 24 and the tooth grooves 31, and the slow-release braces are fitted on the upper teeth of the user, so that the tooth grooves 31 are correspondingly fitted on the positions of the first premolar to the third molar of the user. When the convex parts 25 arranged adjacent to the tooth groove unit 3 come into contact with the user's teeth, the convex parts 25 will be squeezed and a gap will be generated between the teeth of the user. Preferably, when using the slow-release braces, the bacterial powder can also be placed only in the tooth grooves 31. It should be noted that the oral product can also be selected from other types of health foods or medicines according to the needs of the user, and is not limited to bacterial powder.

When the user closes his mouth, his tongue will naturally press against the upper jaw, allowing the generated saliva to flow from the openings 221 and the gap into the internal space 24 and the tooth grooves 31, and fully mix with the bacterial powder. The saliva mixed with the bacterial powder will temporarily stay in the internal space 24 and the tooth grooves 31, and will be blocked by the tooth grooves 31 and the convex parts 25, and will slowly and gradually flow from the two ends of the bottom wall 21 into the user's oral cavity, thereby extending the time that the saliva mixed with the bacterial powder stays in the user's oral cavity.

When the user bites, the upper and lower teeth of the user will squeeze the tooth grooves 31 and the protrusions 25, so that the saliva mixed with the bacterial powder flows along the guide of the protrusions 25 and is distributed in the entire internal space 24 and contacts the gums and upper teeth of the user, and flushes the user's molars (i.e., the first molar to the third molar) and other places where tooth decay is prone to occur along the protrusions 25, thereby increasing the contact area between the bacterial powder and the molars, and at the same time delaying the flow of saliva into the user's oral cavity to increase the contact time between the bacterial powder and the molars, and fully improve the bacterial flora state inside the user's oral cavity, thereby reducing the risk of tooth decay for the user. When the user's biting time is prolonged, saliva will continue to flow into the internal space 24 and the tooth grooves 31, so that the amount of saliva mixed with the bacterial powder will continue to increase, and along the side wall surface of the mouthpiece body 2 (i.e., the two ends of the bottom wall 21, the inner wall 22 and the outer wall 23) to the inside of the user's oral cavity or throat as the user swallows and sucks, and contacts the user's lower teeth, lower gums and throat mucosa.

In addition, the sustained-release mouthpiece can also prevent the user from swallowing too much bacterial powder at one time, causing the drug effect of the bacterial powder to be released too quickly, and prevent the user from choking, swallowing the powder into the respiratory tract, or suffocating due to accidental swallowing.

In summary, the slow-release mouthpiece of the present invention utilizes the structural design of the mouthpiece body 2 so that when the user puts the slow-release mouthpiece on the upper teeth, the user's saliva flows from the openings 221 and the gaps between the protrusions 25 and the user's teeth into the internal space 24 and the tooth grooves 31, and mixes with the oral product therein, and then slowly flows into the user's oral cavity and throat, utilizing the tooth grooves to release the saliva. 31 and the convex parts 25 can delay the flow of saliva from the inner space 24 into the oral cavity, which helps to prolong the time that the oral product stays in the user's oral cavity, avoiding choking caused by too fast release of drug effects or swallowing too much oral product at one time. The convex parts 25 can also increase the contact area between the user's teeth and the oral product, thereby improving the oral efficacy of the oral product, so the purpose of the present invention can be achieved.

However, the above is only an example of the implementation of the present invention, and it cannot be used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present invention. All simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification are still within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

2: Braces body

21: Bottom wall

211: Top

22: Medial wall

221: Open your mouth

23: Outer wall

231: Gap

24: Internal space

25: convex part

3: Tooth unit

31: Tooth groove

X: First direction

Claims (8)

A slow-release brace comprises: a brace body, including a bottom wall curved in a dental arch and having a top surface, an inner side wall extending from an inner side edge of the bottom wall along a first direction orthogonal to the top surface, and an outer side wall extending from an outer side edge of the bottom wall along the first direction, the inner side wall, the outer side wall, and the bottom wall together define an internal space, the inner side wall having a plurality of openings formed on a side of the inner side wall away from the bottom wall; and a tooth groove unit having a plurality of tooth grooves formed downward from the top surface of the bottom wall and connected to the internal space, and the tooth grooves are respectively located at two ends of the bottom wall. The sustained-release braces as described in claim 1, wherein the braces body also has a plurality of protrusions located in the internal space and arranged at intervals on the inner wall, and the protrusions are in the shape of long strips and extend along the first direction. A sustained-release brace as described in claim 2, wherein the protrusions are arranged adjacent to the tooth groove unit. A sustained-release brace as described in claim 1, wherein the openings are formed downward from a top end of the inner wall opposite to the bottom wall, and are arranged far away from the two ends of the inner wall. The sustained-release braces as described in claim 1, wherein the outer wall has a notch formed downward from a top edge of the outer wall opposite to the bottom wall, and the notch is located in the center of the outer wall. A sustained-release brace as described in claim 5, wherein the openings are distributed correspondingly on both sides of the notch. A sustained-release brace as described in claim 1, wherein the height of the inner wall is not greater than the height of the outer wall. The sustained-release braces as described in claim 1, wherein the sustained-release braces are made of a thermoplastic elastomer.

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