Oral appliance for delivery of medicaments and/or other substances
Inventors
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-9649182-B2
Publication Date
2017-05-16
Expiration Date
Abstract
An oral appliance is provided for delivering a medicament to at least a portion of teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside a mouth. The oral appliance contains an interior surface having a medicament disposed in or on at least a portion of and/or the entire interior surface of the oral appliance. The interior surface of the oral cavity is formed to fit contours of at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity and is configured for holding the medicament in contact with at least the portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue areas inside the oral cavity to deliver the medicament to strategic areas in need of treatment. In some embodiments, computer, network and computer readable storage media are provided.
Core Innovation
The disclosed invention relates to a computer implemented method of making an oral appliance by creating a digital record of a patient's oral cavity. The method obtains a baseline digital image of at least a portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue of the oral cavity, creates a first digital image (Dig1) of an oral appliance corresponding to the baseline image, and creates a second digital image (Dig2) corresponding to at least a portion of the teeth and/or soft tissue in need of treatment.
The method combines the first digital image and the second digital image to form a third digital image (Dig3) of the oral appliance. The third digital image comprises the treatment area and is stored in the computer, and the third digital data is configured to support producing the oral appliance with positions for at least one medicament to be placed at the discrete regions in need of treatment.
In refinements, the oral appliance is monolithic with an interior surface custom fitted to patient contours of the teeth and/or soft-tissue areas. The interior surface is configured to hold a medicament comprising a gel, hydrogel, brush polymer, gingival cells, or combinations thereof, and additional refinements specify composition and physical constraints, including ranges for hydrogel content and/or medicament content, and a thickness range for the oral appliance.
Claims Coverage
The partial document includes two independent claims. Across them, the inventive coverage centers on a digital workflow that creates Dig1, Dig2, and Dig3 for an oral appliance with a defined treatment area and stored third image/data, and computer-readable medium logic that performs digital segmentation and provides third digital data including medicament positions, with optional printer-based manufacture and virtual 3D visualization.
Digital record combining baseline and treatment areas to form third image data
Creating a digital record of a patient's oral cavity by obtaining a baseline digital image; obtaining a first digital image (Dig1) of an oral appliance corresponding to the baseline image; creating a second digital image (Dig2) corresponding to tissue areas in need of treatment; combining Dig1 and Dig2 to form a third digital image (Dig3) of the oral appliance comprising the treatment area; and storing the third digital image in the computer.
Segmentation-defined discrete regions and medicament positions in third digital data
Receiving the Base Image and first digital data (Dig1) representing an overlay; generating second digital data (Dig2) by digital segmentation to determine discrete regions in need of treatment; combining the first digital data and second digital data to form third digital data (Dig3) from which the oral appliance can be produced; wherein the third digital data comprises positions for at least one medicament to be placed at the discrete regions in the oral cavity in need of treatment.
Overall, the claim set provided in the partial content ties the oral appliance production workflow to digital overlays, segmentation into discrete treatment regions, combination into third digital data/images, and explicit inclusion of medicament placement positions, with further dependent refinements defining a monolithic custom-fitted interior surface and medicament-holding configurations.
Stated Advantages
Documented Applications
No documented applications found
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