Bondable orthodontic appliance

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DESCRIPTION

Adhesive fixable orthodontic device.

The present invention relates, in general, to an orthodontic device capable of being fixed with an adhesive, and more particularly to a device capable of being fixed to a tooth with a light-curing adhesive, and even more particularly to a device fixable orthodontic appliance for posterior teeth, having a fixation face with a light curable adhesive that is fixable to a tooth by a light cure adhesive.

Background of the invention

Orthodontic treatment of a patient usually begins with the placement of fixed devices, including molar tubes at the distal ends of the archwires to receive and anchor the distal ends of the archwires. Such tubes are normally mounted with straps. Fixation mounting is becoming more and more popular.

Hitherto, it is well known to attach devices to teeth with light cure adhesives, and that the advantage of directly attaching devices to teeth allows for a lower profile, thereby eliminating the need for bypass curves in the bow wire. Although it is known to fix the molar tubes to the molar teeth at the back of the mouth, it is also known that the molar tubes require higher fixation strengths because they are subjected to higher forces from the wire of the arch during orthodontic treatment.

It is also known that fixing with light cure adhesives requires good access to the bonding site in order to allow the light source to properly penetrate and properly cure the adhesive. Good access is generally not possible when mounting current fixative devices to molar teeth. Inadequate curing of the light-curing adhesive results in premature separation of the device from the tooth, necessitating re-fixation during a patient's treatment, which is not only time consuming for the orthodontic expert, but can adversely affect treatment time when re-fixation must be delayed.

When a device is attached to a tooth with a light cure adhesive, one of the problems encountered with adhesive attachment molar devices is achieving satisfactory cure of the adhesive. The molars are at the back of the mouth, at the back of the arch, and although a healing light can easily direct light to the mesial and occlusal edges of a fixation pad, it is not possible to direct light to the distal ends. and gingival pad. Therefore, when mounting a device to a tooth, since the adhesive must fill the gaps on the attachment face of a device that are not accessible to the light source at the mesial and distal edges of a device, healing Incomplete results in the production of an unreliable bond for holding the device in place during orthodontic treatment.

Summary of the invention

The present invention solves the adhesive fixation strength problem by providing a fixative device that increases the cure of the light cure adhesive at deeper fixation sites in the oral cavity, at the back of the archwires.

Fixable devices include a fixation pad that is either integrally formed with the device by molding so that they are one piece, or can be attached to the device by some suitable method. For example, it is well known to provide mesh attachment pads consisting of a sheet of metal and a mesh attached to the sheet as described in US Pat. 4,068,379. This mesh fixing pad is capable of being secured to a device such as by welding.

It is also known, as shown in the above-identified patent, to provide one-piece devices having a fixation pad integrally formed with the device, and with a textured fixation face for receiving a fixation adhesive and for attachment to a tooth. .

It is also known to cure a light cure adhesive during a setting process using a light cure unit or a plasma arc light cure unit, the latter of which significantly reduces the light cure time relative to conventional light curing unit.

US 5110290 describes an orthodontic bracket having a mesh screen to which adhesive is applied for fixing the bracket to the tooth.

US 5722826 describes a similar mesh pad to be secured to an orthodontic bracket and attached to a tooth with adhesive.

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Document US 5810584 describes a method of manufacturing an orthodontic device according to the preamble of claim 1.

The present invention increases the strength of fixation when a device is fixed to a tooth by previously coating the surface of the fixative device with a light cure adhesive prior to fixing the device to a tooth with a light cure adhesive. . More specifically, the problem hitherto encountered of incomplete curing of a light-curing adhesive when fixing a molar device has been solved by applying a light-curing adhesive to the fixture pad of a device, and curing to Next the adhesive when it can be fully subjected to the curing light at the factory. Next, when the device's adhesive-filled pad is to be mounted on a molar tooth, all of the light-curable adhesive added between the pad and the tooth will be more easily accessible to the light-curing operation because the layer of adhesive provided between the cured adhesive surface of the molar pad and the tooth, can be more fully subjected to light cure energy. Consequently, a more reliable fixation is obtained to increase the fixation strength.

The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an orthodontic device as defined in claim 4.

Preparation of the fixable device requires first of all thoroughly cleaning the device with a plasma cleaning machine. The fixing pad is then treated with silane and coated with a thin primer coat of modified acrylic copolymer. The silane is cured prior to application of the primer coating. After curing of the primer coating, the pad is filled with light cure adhesive, which is light cured. The adhesive surface is then mechanically or sandblasted to create a roughened surface to increase adhesive fixation when the device is affixed to a tooth.

The fixation strength for a device according to the present invention is approximately 25% greater than the fixation strength of prior known devices.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved orthodontic device, capable of being fixed with a light cure adhesive to a tooth according to claim 1.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fixable orthodontic device, in particular for a deep fixation site of the oral cavity, having increased fixation strength, in which the fixation base or pad of the device It has been precoated with a light-cured adhesive that is cured and has a rough surface.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a fixable molar tube in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the tube of Figure 1, and illustrating the set pad with cured adhesive;

Figure 3 is a perspective view similar to Figure 2, but illustrating the attachment pad prior to filling the pad with a light cure adhesive;

Figure 4 is a fragmented perspective view of a person's mouth, and illustrating the application of a healing light to a molar tube capable of fixation on a deep molar in the oral cavity of a patient, and Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, on a considerably enlarged scale, taken through a device according to the invention, and illustrating the application of light energy for curing of a light-curing adhesive applied between the device and a tooth, wherein the thickness of adhesive between the device and the tooth is somewhat exaggerated to show the ability of the source light to fully penetrate the adhesive during the cure stage.

Description of the invention

The present invention consists of a fixable orthodontic device, which when fixed to a tooth with a light cure adhesive, has an increased fixation strength as mentioned above. Although it has been known that for some time, to attach orthodontic appliances to teeth through a fixation process, direct fixation of molar tubes has not been very reliable because it is difficult

ES 2 319 167 T3 to light cure the existing adhesive on the fixation pad when mounting the devices on the back of the archwire. Thus, molar devices have often been mounted on a tooth with well known girdle technology, in order to withstand the forces encountered during the treatment of a patient. However, the added benefit of maintaining a lower profile with a fixtured device to eliminate the need for bypass bends in archwires has often influenced the orthodontic expert to turn to adhesive molar fixation tubes for archwires. light healing.

The fixative device of the present invention is provided with a fixation pad or base prefilled with, and coated with, a light cure adhesive. Applying a light cure adhesive to the pad and curing the adhesive prior to mounting the device on a tooth, provides better healing and fixation of the adhesive that fits the pad or base of a device, than then it can be better attached to a tooth with a light cure adhesive, resulting in increased bond strength. Thus, the higher fixation strengths required for molar tubes that are positioned deeper in the oral cavity reduce the likelihood of fixation failure during orthodontic treatment.

With reference to the drawings, a fixative molar tube 10 is shown, including a device 11 in the form of a molar tube suitably secured to a base or pad 12. It will be appreciated that although the present invention is illustrated and described in relation to Using an improved fixative pad for a molar tube, the fixable pad can be used in any other device for the mouth. For example, it could be used on brackets, hooks, helmet tubes, lip protection tubes, or other devices. It will also be understood that the fixative device of the invention is not limited to a device that is only suitable for use on posterior teeth.

The base or pad 12 of the fixative device 10 includes a metal sheet 13 having a section 14 of metal mesh suitably secured thereto. This mesh can be woven or constructed in any other way.

When constructing the base or pad of the sheet and the wire mesh, the pad should normally be welded to the device 11 to thereby provide a combined device base or pad. As already mentioned above, it should be appreciated that the device could be formed by molding, and include an integral pad. The device would then be a one-piece unit, and in that case the fixation surface of the pad would be formed with pockets or depressions to receive and hold the adhesive when applied to the fixation face as the device is being manufactured.

Figure 3 shows the fixture pad 12 of the device prior to application of the light cure adhesive, and Figure 2 shows the light cure adhesive applied and cured as designated by number 15, which then encapsulates completely to the 14 mesh of the pad.

The device is provided with the light cure adhesive 15 after it has been properly prepared so that the light cure adhesive is firmly, fully and completely held in place on the fixing pad. The device is delivered in this way to the orthodontist.

When the device is manufactured after the device has either been clamped to a sheet mesh pad or the device has been molded as a unitary article, the device is thoroughly cleaned with the use of a suitable plasma cleaning machine. These plasma cleaning machines are well known, such as the machine manufactured by Advanced Plasma Systems, Inc. of Florida.

Following cleaning of the device to remove all debris, the fixable surfaces including the mesh and the sheet are treated with silane. Any suitable silane can be used, such as a silane obtained from Aldrich Chemical of Wisconsin. After the mesh and sheet have been coated with silane, they are then suitably heat cured. The base is then primed with a thin layer of modified acrylic copolymer, such as Vareloid copolymer available from Rohm & Haas in Pennsylvania. The copolymer is then cured also with heat.

Following curing of the copolymer, the mesh and sheet are filled with a relatively thick light-curing adhesive, which is adequately light-cured. This then presents a smooth surface since the adhesive is applied with a spatula to smooth it out prior to curing. It will be appreciated that the adhesive will be fully light cured since a light source can be applied directly over the entire area in which the adhesive is located, to obtain a fully cured adhesive. The relatively smooth surface of the adhesive can be further suitably smoothed by any suitable means, if desired. The surface is then mechanically or sandblasted to create a rough surface. The rough texture of the surface therefore further increases the bonding with the adhesive.

As seen in Figure 4, the light curing step includes maintaining a light probe 20 in the device as it is being mounted on a molar tooth. As also seen in Figure 5, the layer of light cure adhesive 22 is relatively uniformly dimensioned and is located between the face 15a of the light cure adhesive 15 of the device, and the face 28a of the tooth 28. Indeed, adhesive layer 22 arranged

ES 2 319 167 T3 on the tooth, it can be fully exposed to the energy of the light cure probe 20 during fixation of the device to the tooth. Due to the light-curing adhesive 15 present in the device, the light-curable adhesive used to fix the device to the tooth does not flow into the fixation pad cavities, and therefore the light source is fully applied to the entire of the adhesive layer 22 that is used to secure the device to the tooth. Thus, the strength of the fixture of the device is increased.

It will be understood that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this application is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.