| Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient -> Monitor Keywords |
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  Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patientRelated Patent Categories: Dentistry, Apparatus, Having Static Product Shaping Surface (e.g., Mold), Intra-oral, Mold MaterialDental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070275345, Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND BENEFIT OF EARLIER FILING DATE [0001] This application is based upon U.S. Provisional Patent No. 60/667,632 filed on Apr. 2, 2005 entitled "Dental Tray For Obtaining Dental Impression Of Edentulous Patient". This U.S. Letters Patent Application is claiming the benefit of the Apr. 2, 2005 filing date under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e). BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to a new dental impression tray, used in combination with moldable material, for obtaining an accurate impression of the jaw and gingiva areas of the mouth of an edentulous patient. [0004] 2. Prior Art [0005] In dentistry, an impression is often used to create an imprint likeness of an edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas in preparation for restoration of dental structures such as complete or partial dentures. The ability of the dental technician or dentist, hereinafter referred to as "operator", to obtain a satisfactory impression is influenced by the dental impression tray, hereinafter referred to as either "dental impression tray" or "dental tray", used in combination with moldable material, hereinafter referred to as "impression material", to obtain the impression. [0006] The accuracy of the impression, to a large extent, will depend upon how well the dental tray is received in the patient's mouth. In order to gain a more accurate impression, numerous types of dental trays have been developed. Some dental trays are designed for numerous applications and are called standard dental trays. Some dental trays are specifically designed for a single purpose such as a dental tray designed for only one side of a patient's mouth. Some dental trays are designed for use with a patient that still has at least some of their teeth as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,973 B1, issued on Oct. 1, 2002 to Fetz et al. Some dental trays are adjustable to allow one dental tray to fit a large number of patients as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,315 B1, issued on Aug. 6, 2002 to Prestipino et al. Some dental trays are designed to allow impression material to be placed in the patient's mouth through the dental tray after inserting the tray in the patient's mouth as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,393 B2, issued on Nov. 4, 2003 to Trichas. Some dental trays, called enhanced trays, are larger devices that that help lift the patient's tongue up and away from the jaw and gingiva areas to assist with obtaining an impression. It is also very common for the dental trays in the prior art to require the use of adhesive to help retain the impression material onto the dental tray during the impression procedure. The adhesive is odorous and distasteful, making the use of adhesives unpleasant for the patient. [0007] While each of the different trays in the prior art do address certain problems with obtaining an accurate impression, they also create new problems or do not work well with today's wide range of impression materials. One problem is that prior art causes excessive impression material to be expelled backward into the throat of the patient causing discomfort and sometimes gagging. Another problem is that the prior art are not built to match the anatomy of an edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas. This can lead to the dental tray deforming the patient's jaw and gingiva areas, thus preventing an accurate impression. This also leads to having to use excessive impression material to obtain a reasonable impression, which contributes to a patient's discomfort and gagging. Yet another problem is that the prior art does not work well with the entire range of impression materials that are now available from extralight to very heavy in density due to openings in the dental trays having either too small of openings or too large of openings. Where the dental tray has small openings, the dental tray does not distribute the medium to very heavy density impression materials well. Where the dental tray has large openings, the dental tray does not retain the extralight to medium density impression materials well. This causes the operator to use impression materials that work with the dental tray when other types of impression materials or a combination of different types of impression materials would provide better results. Yet another problem is that the prior art does not provide a means for uniformly distributing pressure to the dental tray to seat the dental tray and impression material in the patent's mouth. When inserting the dental tray and impression material in the patient's mouth, the operator must push on the tray to seat it around the jaw and gingiva areas. Since the prior art does not provide a way to distribute this pressure uniformly to the dental tray, often the dental tray will improperly seat deeper at the point where the pressure is applied and create an inaccurate impression. Yet another problem is that the prior art does not provide a way to allow the operator to keep their hand, wrist and arm in an ergonomically correct position while placing the dental tray and impression material in the patient's mouth and while placing pressure on the dental tray to seat the dental tray and impression material. At best, this can lead to the operator's fatigue, discomfort and loss of productivity; and, at worse, can lead to the operator becoming injured by having to repetitively place their hand, wrist and arm in awkward positions. [0008] Therefore, there is a need in the art for a new and improved dental tray that provides an accurate impression of an edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas by more closely matching the anatomy of the edentulous patient's mouth so that the patient's jaw and gingiva areas are not deformed or influenced by the dental tray and the impression material is retained by the dental tray during the impression procedure without the use of adhesives; by accommodating the use of the entire range of impression materials that are now available so that the best impression material or the best combination of impression materials can be used to obtain the impression; by providing a means to uniformly transfer pressure to the dental tray so that the impression material is correctly seated in the patient's mouth to obtain an accurate impression with less discomfort to the patient; and by providing a dental tray that allows the operator to maintain their hand, wrist and arm in an ergonomically correct and comfortable position while placing the dental tray and impression material into the patient's mouth and while seating the dental tray and impression material in the patient's mouth during the process of obtaining the dental impression of the edentulous patient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] It is an object of this invention to provide a new dental tray for obtaining an accurate impression of the jaw and gingiva areas of the mouth of an edentulous patient where the dental tray has a predetermined shape that accommodates the anatomical shape of the edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas so that the patient's jaw and gingiva areas are not deformed or influenced by the dental tray and the impression material is retained by the dental tray, without the need for adhesives on the dental tray to help retain the impression material, during the impression procedure. [0010] Another object of this invention is to provide a new dental tray for obtaining an impression of the jaw and gingiva areas of the mouth of an edentulous patient that can be used with the entire range of impression materials from extralight to very heavy in density and can be used with a combination of different density impression materials to obtain an accurate impression. [0011] Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new dental tray for obtaining an impression of the jaw and gingiva areas of the mouth of an edentulous patient that provides a means to uniformly transfer pressure applied by the operator to the dental tray so that the combination of the dental tray and the impression material is correctly seated in the patient's mouth to obtain an accurate impression with less discomfort to the patient, while allowing the operator to maintain their hand, wrist and arm in an ergonomically correct and comfortable position during the impression procedure. [0012] To meet the objectives of the invention, the new dental tray comprises a body, at least two finger rest beams and a handle. The body having a body front end and a body rear end. The handle is attached to the body front end of the body so that the handle can be used to insert and remove the dental tray from the patient's mouth when the impression material is applied to the body of the dental tray and where the handle is narrow enough to allow the operator to negotiate placement of the dental tray without trapping open their fingers. Each of the finger rest beams are received longitudinally along the bottom side of the body and are specifically located on the body such that any pressure placed upon each of the finger rest beams will transfer along the length of each of the finger rest beams and into the body uniformly. The longitudinal length of each of the finger rest beams allow for different sized fingers of the operator to be accommodated anywhere along each of the finger rest beams. Each of the finger rest beams are connected to the handle, where the handle is also attached to the body, such that the combination of the body, handle and each of the finger rest beams form the dental tray. [0013] The body comprises an upstanding outer wall portion, a channel portion and a central support portion having a predetermined shape that accommodates the anatomical shape of the edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas and a plurality of body openings. The shape of the body, being substantially close to the anatomy of the edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas, is designed to allow the body to retain a wide range of impression materials without directing the flow of the impression materials and without influencing or deforming the jaw and gingiva areas. The plurality of body openings further comprises a plurality of dumbbell shaped body openings and a plurality of circular shaped body openings. The plurality of dumbbell shaped body openings having a variety of sizes and orientations and the plurality of circular shaped body openings having a predetermined size. The dumbbell shaped body openings and the circular shaped body openings are positioned in the body at predetermined locations. This combination of openings cooperate to allow the impression material to vent through these openings with the least resistance to obtain the impression of the jaw and gingiva areas, while acting to retain the impression material until it is cured to prevent distortion of the impression material. In another embodiment of the invention, the body further comprises a thickened edge and a plurality of edge notches. The thickened edge being substantially circular in shape with a predetermined diameter and being received along the outer edge of the upstanding outer wall portion, the channel portion and the central support portion of the body to capture the anatomical features of the patient's mouth while the plurality of edge channels provide additional surface area to retain the layer of impression material on the thickened edge until it is cured to prevent distortion of the impression material. These features allow the body to successfully use a wide range of impression materials that vary from extralight to very heavy in density. [0014] The new dental tray described in this invention is for the edentulous patient without teeth or without substantial crowns. The dental tray is designed to have a predetermined shape that accommodates the anatomical shape of the edentulous patient's jaw and gingiva areas to allow the dental tray to retain the impression material without inhibiting or directing the flow of the impression and without influencing or deforming the jaw and gingiva areas while the jaw and gingiva areas are being imprinted by the impression material. The dental tray will act as a carrier to hold any one of the entire range of impression materials from extralight to very heavy in density or any combination of different density impression materials distributed in the dental profession. The combination of the plurality of dumbbell shaped body openings and plurality of circular shaped body openings cooperate to allow the impression materials to vent through these openings with the least resistance to obtain the impression of the jaw and gingiva areas, while acting to retain the impression material until it is cured to prevent distortion of the impression materials. The rounded, thickened edge of the body allows the impression material to capture anatomical features of the edentulous patient and the edge channels help retain this layer of impression material on the thickened edge and body until it cures. The development of special finger rests allows uniform seating of the trays in the patient's mouth while allowing the operator to keep their hand, wrist and arm in an ergonomically correct position. The dental trays are to be made in various sizes to accommodate the highest percentage of the edentulous population. The dental tray can be made from metal, metal plated with other metal or plastic or moldable plastic. The moldable plastic dental tray wall thickness has been selected to allow localized reshaping by the operator of the predetermined shape of the body by either trimming with a bur or heating with a flame and remolding to obtain a personalized dental tray to better fit the patient's jaw and gingiva areas. The invention is unique because it is shaped to closely match the anatomy of an edentulous patient's mouth; it uses a combination of different shaped holes in the body of the tray; if made from moldable plastic material, the body of the dental tray can be locally reshaped; it has a rounded thickened edge with edge channels to allow the impression material to capture the anatomy of an edentulous patient's mouth without deforming the jaw and gingiva areas; it uses each of the finger rest beams to uniformly seat the dental tray to obtain an accurate impression; and the combination of the handle and each of the finger rest beams cooperate to allow the operator to keep his or her hand, wrist and arm in an ergonomically correct position while inserting, seating and holding the dental tray and impression material during the impression process; and uses a minimum amount of impression material to obtain the impression without restricting the type of impression materials that can be used with the dental tray. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with respect to the following description and accompanying drawings where: [0016] FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the invention. [0017] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1. [0018] FIG. 3 is a side view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1. [0019] FIG. 4 is a front view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1. [0020] FIG. 5 is a rear view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1. Continue reading about Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient... Full patent description for Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Led curing light having fresnel lenses Next Patent Application: Multilayer articulating foil Industry Class: Dentistry ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Dental tray for obtaining dental impression of edentulous patient patent info. 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